Behaviour Change and Government Communications

1. Behaviour Change and government communicationsGwneud Newid Ymddygiad yn hawdd gyda model EAST

2. Behaviour change has always been central to government communications

3. Why does it matter? • Government communications is more than just providing information and increasing awareness, it has a role to influence behaviour for the public good. • We seek to encourage people to start, adopt, adapt or stop behaviour. • Behavioural theory enables us to apply proven methods that go with the grain of human nature.

5. Homo Economicus

6. Behavioural Marketing

7. “you have a 90% chance of surviving this procedure” “you have a 10% chance of dying in this procedure” Framing

8. 9/10 people in London pay their tax on time 15.5% increase in responses Social norms

9. Reciprocity %Giving a day’s salary 17% 12% 11% 5%

10. Implementation intentions 13% increase in attendance!

11. When should we send our letters? Tu & Soman (2014): Farmers approached in June or July told to have Rs. 5000 in their account by December, or by January.

12. A common framework - EAST

13. Four key principles to change how people act • Make it easy – simplify messages, harness power of defaults, limit the hassle • Make it attractive – personalised/tailored messages; images and colour, make the desired behaviour valuable • Make it social – show how most people perform the designed action. Encourage personal commitment. Use power of social networks • Make it timely – Prompt people when most likely to be receptive, disrupt habits. Impact of costs and benefits

14. Beyond EAST • There are a number of factors likely to influence behaviour: • 1. Personal factors which are intrinsic to the individual, such as their level of knowledge or their belief in their ability to change their behaviour and habits. • 2. Social factors which are concerned with how individuals relate to each other and the influence of other people on their behaviour. • 3. Environmental factors over which individuals have little control. These include both: • a. local environmental factors, for example, the area in which an individual lives, including local shops and facilities, and • b. wider environmental factors such as the environment or technology

15. Habit and routine • Habit or routine can be a key factor in influencing frequent behaviours. • The more we repeat a particular behaviour, the more automatic it becomes. Many of the behaviours we try to influence in government will be habitual (for example, checking a smoke alarm). • Behaviour change theories often stress the importance of examining habits as a first step towards changing them, by raising them out of the unconscious mind.

16. Short-cuts – ‘’heuristics’ • We take ‘mental shortcuts’ or use ‘rules of • thumb’ hundreds of times each day, and • the more pressure we are under, the more • shortcuts we take. • When we don’t have time to make a fully calculated decision, we often make an ‘educated guess’ based on how easily we can recall or imagine something happening, or on what has happened before.

17. Biases • Internal biases mean that our natural responses are not always fully ‘rational’. Recognising this can help us understand why people make the choices they do. • People tend to prioritise short-term reward over long-term gain. For example, some people prefer to have more money now than to pay into a pension plan.

18. Behavioural Strategy

20. Official - sensitive If DWP makes decisions based on assumptions about behaviour that aren’t accurate… Frustratingly little control over outcomes Increased control over outcomes

21. COM-B Behaviour occurs as a result of an interaction between 3 necessary conditions: CAPABILITY MOTIVATION OPPORTUNITY

22. Any Questions?