Back in 2023, Khushi, K2’s Sustainability Research and Behavioural Insights Associate, undertook a 25-month project to research behavioural interventions and encourage more sustainable choices within the global mobility industry’s value chain. This project was part of K2’s sustainability program, and our ongoing industry-academia partnership with the University of Bath, and jointly funded by Innovate UK. Khushi came into the project as a behavioural scientist with an MSc in Behavioural Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science, embedded herself within K2, whilst maintaining a strong link to the University of Bath. The project steering group was a multidisciplinary team bringing together academic researchers Prof Brian Squire and Dr Iina Ikonen (University of Bath) with senior industry leaders at K2, including Linda Rafferty, Global Head of ESG and Compliance, and Phil Hunt, Board Member, Managing Director of K2 Americas, and Head of Supply Chain.
The project aimed to improve engagement with sustainability initiatives across K2’s supply chain, by researching how best to encourage service providers/partners to commit to sustainability reporting and utilise a new digital ‘Partner Platform’. Through structured, mixed-method research, behavioural insights were developed and directly embedded into our partner communications. The project’s results demonstrated that small, low-cost changes to messaging can significantly increase partner engagement- by 85% – and accelerate response times. Importantly, these outcomes were achieved without financial incentives, structural redesign, or policy enforcement; thus, demonstrating the power of behaviourally informed communication in complex B2B environments.
The project was divided into three phases:
- Phase 1: Diagnostics and mapping (2023-2024)
- Phase 2: Cross-cultural online experiments (2024-2025)
- Phase 3: A real-world field experiment (2025)
Alongside measurable behavioural impact, the project created a lasting behavioural science capability within K2, and strengthened our sustainability positioning. It also generated peer-reviewed academic outputs which Khushi presented at international conferences, including the World Conference on Psychology and Behavioural Science, the International Behavioural Public Policy Conference, and Behave 2025 the European Conference on Behaviour and Energy Efficiency, alongside industry roundtables and strategic dissemination. By applying cross-cultural behavioural research to sustainability challenges within a global mobility supply chain, this project establishes a first-of-its-kind evidence base for the industry.
Tools and training developed during the project are now embedded across K2, and the findings demonstrate to the wider industry that behavioural interventions can unlock sustainability engagement even in complex, commercially sensitive B2B environments.