Behavioural Science Summit 2025

08.45 Registration & coffee

09.25 Welcome from the Chair

Dr. Nicki Morely, Global Innovation Lead, Kantar

09.35 Augmented reality (AR): the modern word of mouth

Word-of-mouth has always been a powerful driver of consumer behaviour but in the digital age, AR is reshaping how it works

This session will share findings from a global behavioural science study exploring how AR influences sharing, connection, and purchase decisions. Combining ethnographies, a survey of 5,000+, and analysis of 741 branded AR activations, the research reveals that AR drives joy, self-expression, and deepens social bonds leading to more shares than traditional content.

Discover how immersive experiences create measurable behaviour change across the consumer journey and why AR invites a rethink of how we approach influence and persuasion in modern marketing.

Devora Rogers, Chief Strategy Officer, Alter Agents
Kate Freed, Group Manager - Global Research and Insights team, Snapchat

10.05 Driving commercial effectiveness: actionable lessons from integrating behavioural science into Data & AI product delivery 

To deliver on reaching 1 billion more consumers by 2030, Haleon is deploying Data & AI products that enable budget holders globally to optimise commercial spend. Behavioural science is critical to driving adoption, ensuring budget holders have the opportunity, motivation and capability to use these new products to improve investment decisions. 

This session shares how behavioural science is being integrated into the Data & AI product delivery lifecycle - from discovery to design to deployment. Hear practical lessons from Haleon’s journey, including getting stakeholder buy-in, restructuring delivery models, and designing for behaviour change upfront.

Anita Bhogaita, Head of Commercial Effectiveness, Digital & Tech, Haleon 

Benjamin Buckby, Behavioural Design Lead, Digital & Tech, Haleon

10.35 Overlooking innovation: unlocking the untapped value of behavioural science

Behavioural Science’s potential in early-stage innovation remains largely underused. But brands that find this new space are x2 likely to grow.  Innovation is, at its core, about behaviour—driving adoption, creating new habits, and sustaining usage.

This panel will explore how a deep understanding of behavioural context, unmet needs, fuels and frictions can help brands innovate for success.  Panellists will discuss how behavioural science can move beyond tactical applications to spark new thinking, drive efficiencies, and create meaningful differentiation.

Chair: Max Wiggins, Behavioural Science Lead, Kantar

Panel:

John Portsmouth, Senior Innovation Director, Kantar

Catriona Ferris, Consumer Insight Director for Homecare, Unilever

Clare Parsons, Senior CMI Manger, Unilever

11.05 Morning refreshments

11.30 Enhancing passenger perceptions of train cleanliness

Northern Trains partnered with Cowry Consulting to uncover and address the behavioural drivers behind low customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores related to perceived train cleanliness—despite rigorous daily cleaning.  Through behavioural audits, academic insight, and an implicit response test with 1,000+ passengers, the study uncovered hidden drivers of perception, including lighting, scent, and staff presence. Psychological segmentation revealed a key group lacking motivation to keep trains clean. These insights informed a series of targeted interventions which led to an uplift in train cleanliness CSAT.

This presentation will demonstrate the power of integrating behavioural science with customer research to design scalable, cost-effective CX interventions.

Richard Milner, Lead Behavioural Designer, Cowry

Natalia Gomez, Lead Behavioural Researcher, Cowry

Chris Paddon, Customer Experience Service Design Manager, Northern Rail

12.00 Using a serious game to protect people against romance scams

Romance scams cause significant harm, yet traditional online safety resources are often underused. This session presents pioneering research on using a serious game to educate and protect people more effectively.

Developed with behavioural science principles, such as feedback and experiential learning, the game was tested in two large scale randomised controlled trials with over 4,200 adults. Results showed the game was a highly effective intervention which significantly reduced susceptibility to scams both immediately and four weeks later, compared to traditional text-based guidance.

This session highlights serious games as a as a promising online safety intervention.

Eoin Campbell, Associate Director - Behavioural Insight and Advisory Team, Thinks Insight & Strategy

Max Mawby, Managing Director, Applied Behavioural Science, Thinks Insight & Strategy

Pinelopi Skotida, Behavioural Insights Advisor, Ofcom

Jessica Rees, Policy Manager – Online Safety, Ofcom

12.30 Using behavioural science to shape The Open University’s future campus strategy

This session explores how The Open University partnered with Dectech to apply behavioural science in shaping its future campus strategy. Aiming to reach new student segments and support regional growth, the research centred on a large-scale behavioural experiment involving over 20,000 prospective students across the UK, China, and India. By testing different combinations of campus features, learning experiences, and support services, the study identified configurations that could boost enrolment by up to 9%. Hear how the findings were critical in refining The Open University’s proposition design and marketing approach, aligning institutional growth with student preferences, sustainability goals, and long-term social impact.

Dr Tim Mitchell, Director, Dectech

Dr Benny Cheung, Director, Dectech

Jodi Burt, Deputy Director – Strategy & Propositions, The Open University

13.00 Lunch

14.00 The psychology of visual design: format as a behavioural lever in public health communications

As behavioural science shapes public health strategy, even subtle design decisions, beyond message content, can significantly influence individual action. In a novel experiment, The Social Agency, NHS England, and ZK Analytics tested how letter design & formatting impacts motivation to join NHS clinical trials.

Using an Implicit Association Test with 3,000 adults, six letter designs were evaluated on motivation, interest, excitement, professionalism, trustworthiness, and safety. Findings reveal that visual elements like logos and modern layouts significantly boost engagement. This session unpacks the research journey and demonstrates how subtle design tweaks can drive large-scale behavioural change, offering fresh insights for researchers, policymakers, and public sector communicators.

Dan Clay, Managing Partner, The Social Agency

Shyma Jundi, Behavioural Science Lead, NHS England

14.30 Driving behaviour change in pain management consultations

The Haleon Centre for Human Sciences [HCHS] was established to advance pharmacists consultations empowering them within their role as community healthcare providers. The Behavioural Architects partnered with Haleon to develop behavioural interventions that would enhance pharmacist-patient interactions and better support patients with recurring musculoskeletal pain.

This session explores the innovative research approach, which combined ethnographic insight, real-time observation, and behavioural frameworks like COM-B, used to deconstruct patient / pharmacist interactions and design targeted interventions. Examine how these strategies led to measurable improvements in patient engagement and outcomes across pharmacy settings in Australia.

Gill O'Hanlon, Managing Partner, The Behavioural Architects

Ben Jones, Director, AI Product Innovation Lead, The Behavioural Architects

Laura Street, Expert Marketing Director, Haleon

15.00 Afternoon refreshments

15.25 How to use behavioural science to drive better customer outcomes

This session explores how Nationwide applies behavioural science to increase customer confidence in financial decision making and examines how to embed behavioural science principles into the communications standards of a large organisation.

Nationwide’s Communication Leads, Susan Coburn and Kate Ainsworth will share examples of how behavioural science can improve customer outcomes, including reducing credit card debt and helping customers navigate changes to their service with ease.

It will delve into how introducing the EAST framework, quantifying outcomes, and evidencing success have been key to gaining buy-in for a BeSci-led communications culture that leads to better experiences for customers, and better business for the organisation.

Claire Hovey – Behavioural Research Designer, Signal

In-conversation with

Kate Ainsworth, Head of Communications Standards, Nationwide Building Society

Susan Coburn – Head of Communications Projects, Nationwide Building Society

15.55 ‘The Cost of Dull’: what makes creative resonate in a world of digital apathy?

In a digital world where most advertising is ignored, what actually makes creative resonate? This session explores how AI, behavioural science, and audience research are shaping the future of creative strategy.

Hear key findings from ‘The Cost of Dull’, a major study analysing over 20,000 ads and 19 billion impressions in the live entertainment sector. Combining behavioural science with AI-powered creative tagging, the research explores how emotional arousal, persuasion principles, and personality traits influence engagement. Using established psychological and personality frameworks, the findings show that aligning creative with audience psychology delivers measurable gains.

Jake Bowser, CTO, Sine Digital

Alya Kubati, Data and Insights Director, Sine Digital

Client TBC

16.25 The London Essence Co. packaging redesign: measuring emotional connection, not just attention

In a premium mixer category dominated by Schweppes and Fever Tree, The London Essence Co. needed packaging that would attract system 1 shoppers with a design that sparked desire. This session explores how The Big Picture used a blend of qualitative insight and proprietary implicit testing to measure emotional connection, not just visual standout. By identifying how pack design sparks system 1 responses, the team developed a refined visual identity balancing luxury with relatability. Hear how Insight-led design led to a distinctive, elegant pack that resonates emotionally and performs commercially in a saturated market.

Sam Connor, Director, The Big Picture Agency

Senior representative, London Essence Company

16.55 Chair’s closing comments

17.00 Sponsored drinks reception