Aceti Associates is at the leading edge of a growing focus on the application of behavior change principles to building healthy, sustainable communities. The firm’s accumulated expertise in this area provides value to clients seeking to maximize participation in the programs that they are promoting.
In addition to utilizing the trade literature, Aceti Associates has extensive experience mining the rich but often untapped academic literature to identify what others have learned about barriers to specific behaviors and proven strategies for overcoming them.
Aceti Associates provides clients with an understanding of how local audiences view the activity that is to be promoted by employing market research tools such as focus groups, phone surveys and personal interviews. We have experience carrying out focus group research from start to finish, including participant recruitment, discussion guide preparation, moderation, analysis and report preparation. Aceti Associates also has expertise in specifying and procuring phone survey research services and developing survey instruments. When personal interviews are the appropriate research tool, Aceti Associates applies its experience in recruiting respondents, developing questionnaires and conducting interviews.
Aceti Associates uses social science knowledge regarding behavior change to design new strategies for promoting sustainable practices. We have developed numerous strategies for promoting residential recycling. A neighborhood recycling campaign developed for the Town of Dedham, Massachusetts achieved a 17% increase in the amount recycled during the campaign period and a 10.5% increase during a 7 ½ month follow up period. Aceti Associates has also designed strategies to motivate individuals to engage in a variety of sustainable landscaping practices. Finally, Aceti Associates has used its behavior change expertise to help organizations refine existing social marketing strategies.
Aceti Associates has carried out a half dozen major pilot projects to date. Our experience includes all aspects of pilot testing, including meticulous planning, hands-on coordination, development of evaluation methodologies and data collection and analysis.
Aceti Associates has delivered engaging, practical workshops on community-based social marketing for over 1,500 program managers and activists. Jan Aceti, president of Aceti Associates, served as a lecturer on social marketing in Tufts University's Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from 2004 through 2007.
Aceti Associates has developed tools to help program managers move from CBSM principles to practice, such as:
Jan Aceti, president of Aceti Associates, has fourteen years of experience overcoming barriers to participation in recycling and waste reduction activities. Her past public sector work as Recycling Director for the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts and as a Recycling Program Planner for the State of Rhode Island provides her with a valuable understanding of government processes. She brings to her work a program manager’s knowledge of the opportunities and constraints that influence the design of successful programs.
Jan’s focus on doing high quality work to help clients build healthy, sustainable communities stems from a personal as well as professional commitment to a sustainable future. Jan also fulfills that commitment by taking the initiative to provide clients with social marketing tools and other resources that are likely to be helpful to them in their work.
Jan has a reputation for keeping the ball rolling on projects, while also soliciting client input and taking suggestions seriously.
The Massachusetts State Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance (SOMWBA) has certified Aceti Associates as a woman-owned business enterprise (WBE). Aceti Associates is also a pre-qualified contractor on Massachusetts statewide contract PRF06. Pre-qualified contractors can be used by all Massachusetts state agencies and political subdivisions, such as municipalities, authorities, state colleges and public schools.
For more detail on Jan Aceti’s background and achievements:
Jan Aceti's CV
