The Science of Behaviour Change

Applying Behavioural Science to better understand and influence behaviour.

Behavioural science has gone mainstream! Following the publication of books such as Freakonomics, Predictably Irrational, Nudge and Thinking Fast and Slow, there has been a surge of interest in the principles and ideas from the fields of behavioural economics and, more widely, behavioural science.

It’s now a must for anyone involved or seriously interested in the business of changing behaviour to be competent and up to speed with the latest behavioural thinking and how it can be practically applied. This course does just that.

Who would benefit

Anyone involved or interested in better understanding and influencing behaviour (consumers, customers or citizens) - from researchers and strategists, to marketers, planners and policymakers. The course will benefit both those looking for an introduction to the increasingly popular fields of applied behavioural science and behaviour change (principles and practice) and those who want to advance their knowledge and keep pace with the very latest behavioural thinking, strategies and tactics for behaviour change.

Objectives

• Get up to speed on emerging insights from behavioural science into how people actually make decisions
• Introduce and understand the most common decision-making ‘shortcuts’ and biases that affect behaviour
• Learn how to audit and map the decision-making process to uncover key heuristics, behavioural influences and bottlenecks
• Explore different behaviour change strategies - from restriction and persuasion to incentives and choice architecture (nudge theory)
• Provide a framework and tactics for designing effective behavioural interventions along with real-world case studies
• Put into practice (working in groups) the lessons from behavioural science and design your own interventions

Learning outcomes

• An advanced understanding and knowledge of the principles and latest insights from behavioural science - replacing traditional thinking
• Ability to systematically identify and leverage key heuristics, biases and bottlenecks to influence behaviour
• Critical thinking, guiding principles and methods to better understand the decision-making process and uncover ‘System 1’
• A process approach to designing effective behavioural interventions and lessons from real-world case studies
• Actionable behaviour change tactics and ‘nudging’ concepts to apply in the real world

Practicalities

Before the training, you’ll be asked to think about a behaviour that you’ve tried to influence in the past - it might be changing shoppers' store choice, getting customers to adopt a new product/service, improving medicines adherence, increasing healthier lifestyle choices or pro-environmental behaviours etc. We’ll then discuss your experiences, efforts and learnings as a starting point.

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