Behavioural change

What had the biggest influence on people saving energy?

What had the biggest influence on people saving energy?

~ when they knew neighbours used less energy → they thought that facts about the environment would have the biggest impact => ppl aren’t always aware of what influences them

What comes along with change?

~ something new (rewards/threats)

2 systems become activated

a. BAS ~ behaviour activation system → when enough opportunities and rewards, approaching those is activated (obtaining the flower)

b. BIS ~ behavioural inhibition system → making sure that the dangers and costs of behaviour are avoided (avoiding the thorns)

What are the three systems related to change?

What is approach-avoidance conflict?

~ when both BAS and BIS systems become activated (bc both rewards and threats are present), leading to conflict

→ when conflict, usually more power of BIS (avoiding change)

What does effective influencing strategy do?

~ takes in both the alpha and omega strategies (making it more attractive and reducing the disadvantages) to make a new behavioural change as effective as possible

What is the alpha omega model of behavioural change?

i. alpha strategies ~ making the messages nicer/more attractive (stressing the benefits e.g.)

ii. omega strategies ~ focused on diminishing the focus on the negative effects (hiding the thorns, preventing, reducing and dealing with it)

Who is Robert Cialdini?

~ researcher, author of a lot of stuff related to behavioural change/persuasion (e.g., Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion book w/7 principles)

→ using these shortcuts/heuristics can increase the approach motivation

What is the commitment & consistency principle? What is the foot-in-the-door technique?

~ ppl strive to be consistent w/their decisions, values, and thoughts

when commitment is

- voluntary

- active

- written down

- public

→ can be used to change ppl’s behaviour bc they want to avoid cognitive dissonance & maintain consistent public image

foot-in-the-door ~ small favour first, then the large one (do you care about this? can you donate …?)

What is the social proof/consensus principle about? How can it be combined w/commitment?

~ based on the behaviour of those around us w/most effectivity when the situation is uncertain, a lot of other people are in it and there are people similar to us we can use as a reference (e.g., old vs young people wearing masks)

can be combined w/commitment

→ social proof (95% ppl do this) and commitment (written confirmation) => improves behaviour (less no-shows to doctors appointment)

BUT → communicating a norm we want to counter w/social norm that proves the opposite of what we want to achieve (e.g., 89% of ppl use their phone while driving) is not going to work

What is the reciprocity principle about?

~ ppl feel obliged to return the favours of others (e.g., more sweets w/receipt → higher tip)

What is the principle of scarcity about?

~ ppl tend to place more value on things that are scarce/not that many (e.g., only available now, only two rooms left, get yours quickly, …) bc they think that less available options are of higher quality

What is the principle of authority (?) about?

~ ppl like to listen to experts and are more likely to comply when smth is presented by an expert (most effective when ppl feel overwhelmed by the information)

What is the principle of sympathy about? What is the principle of unity?

sympathy ~ liking smb makes us more easily influenced by them (based on similarity, attractiveness, praise, …)

unity ~ a bit deeper than sympathy, targeting the need to belong (the shared identity between the influencer and the target) → ‘we’

How does vividness of messages work?

~ involves the mind more (images/video/story/…) → easier to remember (vividness increases the availability of that information in mind), and makes it more impactful (esp. w/positive information)

What is reactance?

~ smth we experience when smb else is pushing us to do smth we do not want to do (not necessarily about the change we are asked to do, but about the external influence)

happens bc we feel as though we are not free anymore to make a choice (freedom threat) which makes us want to regain that freedom leading to negative thoughts and anger about the influencing person

What is scepticism?

~ not knowing/believing whether the change is the right change to make relative to the other options

→ more likely to occur when people are thinking about serious/important decisions while maybe not agreeing w/the message (?)

What is inertia?

~ conviction that the change is good, not disagreeing w/the influencing person, but not taking the action → gap between the intention and behaviour

→ fear of unknown

What are the three forms of resistance?

i. affective ~ I don’t want to do it → directed at the influencer due to freedom threat (emotional response, anger, e.g., reactance)

ii. cognitive ~ I don’t believe it → directed at the message, weighing what the relative best decision is (e.g., scepticism)

iii. behavioural ~ I will not do it → directed at the action, fearing the unpredictable (e.g., inertia)

→ not mutually exclusive

→ recognising the type of resistance people feel is crucial to changing behaviour (so that we know how to deal w/the resistance)

What works best for countering reactance?

~ prevention works best bc once ppl feel reactance, their decisions become biased (due to their emotions)

how

- make sure freedom threat doesn’t arise (involve employees in the decision making process or provide them w/a choice)

- minimise the question → make the change seem less important, make them feel more autonomous (ask for small donation/amount of time e.g.)

- change your role → be a friend/advisor/… (‘hey my friend, can I have a minute of your time …’)

- yes-mood, providing choice → lessens reactance as that gets bigger w/restrictions (make it sound as smth ppl can do, make them say yes a lot of time)

What works best for countering scepticism?

i. change the comparison (bc scepticism is relative in the context of the choice)

ii. place it in the future (buy now, pay later) bc then people don’t have to deal w/it immediately and are more likely to agree (further away → doesn’t matter so much => less influence on ppl)

iii. provide guarantees (gets rid of uncertainty → take this thing home, if you don’t like it you can always bring it back w/i 2 weeks)

What works best to counter innertia?

~ all about getting ppl to do what they might already believe is the right thing to do

a. disrupt-then-reframe (charity/marketing)

- peak ppl’s attention in order to disrupt their usual scheme by making a weird(er) request to make them more likely to go w/the request

b. increase self-efficacy (organisations)

- when employees are resistant to new technology/ways of working (due to not knowing how it works, feeling incapable of doing it and being afraid of it) → requires structural solutions → learning possibilities, mentorship, support

What is the difference between nudging and boosting?

nudging

~ try to keep people’s choice free while making one option easier/more prominent than the others to go for the desired change (influencing ppl w/o them being aware of being influenced) → targets behaviour in specific context (ppl not involved in the decision consciously)

- doesn’t always work (priming w/flashing images e.g.)

- is it ethical?

boosting

~ alternative to nudging → idea is that ppl are capable of making the right choices (mostly in non-commercial settings)

- e.g., makes the consequences/arguments available to give ppl the information so that they can make their own decision → makes people more competent (bc they are involved in the decision)

→ both effective for changing behaviour, choice depends on the ethical aspects of the desired change