Giving Voice to the ‘ Silent Majority ’ Janet Stephenson and Rob Lawson

Janet Stephenson is a social scientist with a particular interest in societal responses to environmental challenges. She is the Director of the Centre for Sustainability at the University of Otago. Rob Lawson is in the Marketing department at the University of Otago. His special area of expertise is in the study of consumer behaviour, with strong interests in the development of marketing theory. Most New Zealanders will accept renewable energy ... The opponents you get on a project is [sic] more often a minority, local populations. The people who support these things don’t generally come out applauding. Hayes is a classic example. Central Wind as well, we got a lot of what we call the silent majority. — an energy company representative, quoted in Stephenson and Ioannou, 2010, p.70 Introduction