A powerful framework for making big and small behaviour changes
Behaviour
Capability
Opportunity
Motivation
Do they have the awareness, know-how and confidence to perform the behaviour?
Are there any physical restrictions preventing the behaviour from happening?
It must be possible for the individual to engage in the target behaviour.
Do the attitudes and opinions of peers encourage or discourage the behaviour?
Are there tools and technologies that can help facilitate the behaviour?
Our environment must permit us to take part in the target behaviour.
Can we help them plan to take part in the target behaviour?
Can we alter the decision-environment to make it feel more natural or obvious?
We want the target behaviour to feel desirable or natural.
A 5 minute primer on decision-making
Imagine you land on an alien planet and discover two new intelligent lifeforms. Which of the following do you think is called Kiki and which one is called Bouba?
How to harness System 1 thinking
Messenger
We're influenced by who communicates
Enhance the effect of a message by changing the individual or organisation conveying it.
People were more likely to sign up to the Army Reserve when send an email from a real and named officer.
We are heavily influenced by the perceived authority and trust of the communicator, more than the content itself.
Incentives
We avoid loss before we seek reward
Encourage positive behaviours today by moving the costs into the future.
Save More Tomorrow encourages people to commit to future pension increases, instead of increases today.
We disproportionately prefer rewards that come sooner and costs that are borne later.
Norms
We trust the choices of the group
When people are engaging in the behaviour you want, make it visible to everyone.
Telling people who have no paid their taxes on time that most people have paid increased payment rates.
We use other people's behaviour as a cue for what's acceptable and desirable.
Defaults
We are strongly influenced by pre-set options
Change the default choice to encourage more positive behaviour.
Framing alternative choices for disposing of cigarettes lead to a reduction in littering.
We tend to 'go with the flow' of a pre-set option.
Salience
We take note of the unexpected
Make the most important information or required action stand out so that it attracts attention.
Putting a handwritten message on envelopes increased the % of people paying their tax on time.
Our attention is drawn to what is novel and seems relevant to us.
Priming
Our senses trigger 'patterns of behaviour'
Expose individuals to familiar sights, words or sensations that remind them of behaviour from other situations.
People were more likely to wash their hands in a hospital when the smell of citrus was present.
Our actions are influenced by cues that can trigger 'patterns of behaviour'.
Affect
We seek pleasure and avoid pain
Associate your target behaviour with positive emotions or undesired behaviour with negative ones.
Making disposing of waste part of a game decreased the amount of litter people left on the ground.
Our emotional associations can powerfully shape our actions.
Comittments
We tend to do what we say we'll do
Encourage someone to commit to a goal and write it down, then to set a penalty for failing to achieve it.
Smokers who made a commitment to quit (and agreed to forfeit money if they failed) were more successful.
When we publicly commit to a goal, we are more likely to achieve it, especially if there is a risk of penalty for failure.
Ego
We act in ways that reinforce our self-image
Associate the target behaviour with the self-image the person desires in the future.
Showing people photos of the effects of skin damage reduced how much time they spent in the sun.
We act in ways that make us feel better about ourselves.
A toolbox for creating change
Brainstorm the actions each person must take to achieve the desired outcome
Circle the 3 most important behaviours