Learn how to change behavior.
The world's largest collection of resources and data on behavioral science.
Behavior change and behavior design models

MODELS
Behavioural Drivers Model
TYPE
Behavior model
PEOPLE
Vincent Petit
ORGANIZATION
UNICEF

MODELS
Intervention Design Process
TYPE
Behavior design process / heuristics
PEOPLE
Matt Wallaert

MODELS
Health Belief Model
TYPE
Behavior model
PEOPLE
Irwin Rosenstock, Godfrey Hochbaum, S. Stephen Kegeles

MODELS
Self-Determination Theory
TYPE
Behavior model
PEOPLE
Richard Ryan, Edward Deci

MODELS
Social Cognitive Theory
TYPE
Behavior model
PEOPLE
Albert Bandura

MODELS
COM-B | Capability, Oppportunity, Motivation → Behavior
TYPE
Behavior model
PEOPLE
Susan Michie, Robert West, Maartje van Stralen
Tactics that change behavior

TACTICS
Depression rating
Depression rating simply refers to having someone rate their mood. Often, this may be an informal method like a smiley-face based Lickert scale or choosing a word from a list, rather than using a standardized instrument like the Beck Depression Inventory.

TACTICS
Change Effort
Changing effort refers to modifying the difficulty, or sometimes perceived difficulty, of a behavior in order to change its likelihood of occurrence. This often entails making a behavior easier by reducing its intensity or frequency. This is a tactic advocated by BJ Fogg’s model of behavior change.

TACTICS
Commitment Devices
Commitment devices are tools that attempt to bridge the gap between a person's initial motivation to perfrom the behavior and the typical pattern of noncompliance as time goes on.One prominent example is the "Ulysses Pact," where Filipino banking customers were offered the option to enroll in an account where their ability to make withdrawals would be limited. In a study by Ashraf and Karlan (2005), participants with the commitment account saved 81% more than those with typical accounts. There are many other examples of commitment devices. Temptation bundling is a form of commitment device where people only engage in an enjoyable activity when it's simultaneous with an activity they intend to do more (for example, only listening to a certain podcast or audiobook while walking on a treadmill). Pre-paying for a service is a basic form of commitment device, and one used by Dan Ariely when he intended to increase his fruit and vegetable consumption. He paid for a year of biweekly deliveries from a local CSA program up-front.

TACTICS
Automation
Automation refers to having another person, group, or technology system perform part or all of the intended behavior. A prominent example is Thaler & Bernartzi's Save More Tomorrow intervention, which invested a portion of employees' earnings into retirement funds automatically and even increased the contribution level to scale with pay raises. Other examples include automatically scheduling medical appointments so the patient needn't do it themselves and mailing healthy recipe ingredients to the person's home to reduce the burden of shopping.

TACTICS
Clawback Incentives
Clawback incentives refer to a framing effect applied to rewards where participants are intended to experience losing the reward via noncompliance rather than accruing it for successful performance of the behavior.For example, a hypertension management program may credit its participants $200 at the beginning of the month, and reduce or "claw back" the amount by $3 each time the patient does not take their medication. The alternative would be starting the month at zero or the previous ballance and adding $3 each time the patient takes the medication.

TACTICS
AI or Chatbot
Using a chatbot or simulated conversational interaction.

TACTICS
Checklists
Checklists are an age-old tactic for remembering to do certain tasks. Checklists are sometimes used to measure behaviors that should take place with a certain frequency, e.g. every day or X times per week, and other times, to ensure certain steps are followed every time a person does a complex behavior.For behavior designers, the challenges of checklists often entail choosing the right behaviors, breaking them down to the correct level of granularity for a given population, and serving them up in the proper context or sometimes with personalization. They are likely underutilized and consistently improve the performance of even experts, like pilots and surgeons.

TACTICS
Covert Learning
Covert learning refers to imparting educational information into non-traditional methods of delivery. For example, a film where someone learns cognitive behavioral therapy techniques or receives training on body-weight fitness exercises may teach someone how to do these (or at least generally what they are). People may also learn the consequences of a behavior through watching someone else experience them, and this concept (viarious experience) is a key component of Bandura's social cognitive theory.
Products that change behavior

PRODUCTS
AdhereTech

PRODUCTS
Acorns
Behaviors
Savings
Tactics
Framing Effects, Reduce Friction or Barriers, Automation +2 more

PRODUCTS
2Morrow Stress (and Anxiety) Program
Behaviors
Mental Health & Self-Care
Tactics
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Behavioral Activation (BA)
Models
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

PRODUCTS
Accion
PRODUCTS
2Morrow Chronic Pain Program
Behaviors
Mental Health & Self-Care, Other, Disease Management
Tactics
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Behavioral Activation (BA)
Models
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
PRODUCTS
2Morrow Smoking Cessation Program
Behaviors
Smoking Cessation
Tactics
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Behavioral Activation (BA)
Models
ACT

PRODUCTS
AbleTo
Behaviors
Mental Health & Self-Care
Tactics
Personalization, Skill Coaching, Coaching or Counselling
PRODUCTS
Accupedo
Behaviors
Physical Activity
Tactics
Education or Information, Reminders, Cues +3 more
Research on behavior change
PAPERS
The Effectiveness of Prompts to Promote Engagement With Digital Interventions: A Systematic Review.
BEHAVIOR
Other
PAPERS
A comparison of two delivery modalities of a mobile phone based assessment for serious mental illness: native smartphone application vs text-messaging only implementations.
BEHAVIOR
Mental Health & Self-Care
PAPERS
The program for rheumatic independent self-management: a pilot evaluation.
BEHAVIOR
Physical Activity
PAPERS
A Digital Diabetes Prevention Program (Transform) for Adults With Prediabetes: Secondary Analysis
PRODUCT
Transform
BEHAVIOR
Physical Activity, Diet & Nutrition
PAPERS
Continuous glucose monitoring counseling improves physical activity behaviors of individuals with type 2 diabetes: A randomized clinical trial.
BEHAVIOR
Physical Activity, Disease Management
PAPERS
The PULSE (Prevention Using LifeStyle Education) trial protocol: a randomised controlled trial of a Type 2 Diabetes Prevention programme for men.
BEHAVIOR
Physical Activity, Diet & Nutrition
PAPERS
Physical activity with spiritual strategies intervention: a cluster randomized trial with older African American women.
BEHAVIOR
Physical Activity
TACTICS
Spirituality
PAPERS
The effects of a multimodal intervention trial to promote lifestyle factors associated with the prevention of cardiovascular disease in menopausal and postmenopausal Australian women.
BEHAVIOR
Physical Activity
PAPERS
Randomized Controlled Pilot Study Testing Use of Smartphone Technology for Obesity Treatment
PRODUCT
Lose It!
BEHAVIOR
Physical Activity, Diet & Nutrition
TACTICS
Education or Information, Reminders, Cues, & Triggers, Self-Monitoring or Tracking, Social Support, Feedback