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Applied
Behavioural
Science
Shaping contexts and designing processes and
products to enable behaviour change

What is Applied Behavioural

Science, and why is it important?
in the corner, or fail to save for everyday needs.
We all want to be happy and healthy. Behavioural Science leverages insights and evidence
from psychology, cognitive science, social science and
We want to see ourselves and our economics to understand the relationship between our
families thrive. Yet we often make innate human traits and the context we live within, in
decisions that seem to work against order to encourage and inhibit behaviour.
these goals. Why is that? Governments, multilateral institutions, and public
and private sector organizations use insights from
The field of Behavioural Science seeks to understand Behavioural Science to uncover how elements of
the mysteries of human behaviour – why we reach everyday life influence people to behave in ways that do
for unhealthy snacks when on a diet, forget to make not align with their goals and intentions.
appointments for routine immunizations, put off HIV
or STI testing indefinitely, skip doses of hypertension
medication, leave the mosquito net folded up
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Key principles Social and behavioural

1. Context matters. People’s decisions and behaviours
objectives
are shaped by the context in which they operate: Applied Behavioural Science combines thorough
the cues they receive, the options that are available qualitative research and evidence from cognitive science
and most visible, the actions that seem easiest, the and psychology to formulate a deep understanding of
choices they see others making, and the ways people a particular context and how features of it may drive or
try to influence their choices. . prevent specific behaviours. Using an evidence-based
approach can dramatically improve the acceptability,
2. Changing knowledge and attitudes is often not relevance and impact of programmes and policies.
sufficient to change behaviour. People’s intentions
do not always match their behaviours.

3. People often fail to predict how they will behave in a

Specifically,
given situation. Behavioural Science can help predict
Behavioural Science
how elements of a situation either enable or deter
allows programme
people from making decisions that align with their
designers and
values. Asking people directly why they do or don’t
policymakers to:
behave in a certain way will not fully illustrate the
range of factors that subconsciously drive decision- • Better understand the drivers of
making. When self-reporting, people also tend to and barriers to uptake of specific
respond in ways that will be viewed favourably by behaviours that align with people’s
others (desirability bias). goals and intentions
4. Small changes to the context can lead to significant • Design behaviourally-informed
changes in behaviour. communications, interventions,
technologies, policies and
Key terms programmes, including messages
Æ Cognitive biases (mental heuristics) are natural and strategies that effectively address
distortions in thinking that affect the decisions and specific behavioural drivers in unique
judgements people make. One of the objectives of contexts.
Behavioural Science is to understand how these • Focus on the experiences of
innate cognitive biases shape behaviour. the people impacted by policies
Æ Intention-action gaps describe the discrepancy and programmes, instead of the
between what people say they want to do and what preferences and perspectives of
they actually do. Applied Behavioural Science seeks experts and policymakers
to shape the context to help people follow through • Address the underlying determinants
on their intentions, eliminating that gap of behaviours and motivations,
Æ Friction is another word for the inconveniences beyond knowledge and attitudes, by
or hassles that can prevent people from following understanding how behaviours result
through on their intentions. Applied Behavioural from the interaction between cognitive,
Science seeks to minimize the friction that inhibits social and environmental influences
healthy or desired behaviours.
• Use an evidence-based approach to
Æ Choice architecture is the design of how (and develop and test hypotheses around
what) choices are presented to people whose the contextual drivers of specific
behaviour you want to influence – the number of behaviours followed by an iterative,
choices presented, how each is framed, the proximity experimentation-based approach to
or ease of one choice over another. design solutions.
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The limits and Case studies and examples

opportunities associated The field of Applied Behavioural Science is often
associated with the ‘nudge theory’ popularized in Cass
with an Applied Behavioural Sunstein and Richard Thaler’s book Nudge (2008). The
Science approach insights that underpin nudge theory are critical features
Behavioural Science (understanding human behaviours) of the field of Behavioural Science.
is a critical part of policy and programme development.
But Applied Behavioural Science interventions alone • People do not make decisions or take actions in a
(e.g., choice architecture design, nudges) are unlikely vacuum. Their choices are deeply affected by features
to effectively address complex and deeply-rooted of the broader context.
challenges like gender-based violence, child labour, and • It is often insufficient to change knowledge and
discrimination. These issues require changes to larger attitudes, as people’s behaviours rarely align with
structural elements such as social relations, economic their intentions.
opportunities, policies and governance, which may still • Simple economic models that weigh cost and benefit
be informed by behavioural insights. often fail to predict human behaviour.
In other words, Applied Behavioural Science is such
a powerful approach because not only does it help However, while these insights may be used to design
us understand the structural context driving decision- small changes in the context, known as “nudges, These
making, it may even generate structural solutions and tweaks can also be essential to informing policies and
renewed policy recommendations. larger-scale changes in systems and protocols. The
However, Behavioural Science approaches may not range of case studies below exemplifies the diversity in
directly address all structural, social and policy barriers scope of behaviourally-informed interventions.
to behaviour change. For example, if you are designing
a programme to encourage uptake of timely counselling
for survivors of domestic violence, you will likely want Nudges
to address individual barriers (perceived need, mental • NEPAL A peer comparison intervention in clinics
models of counselling), social barriers (taboos around increases Long Acting Reversible Contraceptive
discussing abuse and lack of a social norm around (LARC) uptake in post-abortion settings by nearly 7
counselling) and structural barriers (overworked health percentage points
workers, limited human resources, lack of clear policies
around counselling referrals). • URUGUAY Sending behaviourally-informed text
messages increases preschool attendance
Behavioural Science insights may help you uncover,
contextualize and address such structural barriers • SIERRA LEONE A cost-effective social signalling
by, for example, informing the design of easy-to-use intervention increases childhood vaccination rates by
referral systems and heuristics that help overworked 14 percentage points in Sierra Leone
health workers connect survivors with counselling.. • UKRAINE The Effect of Behavioural Science Tools on
approach needs to be complemented by structurally Vaccination Uptake: A Randomised Controlled Trial
oriented solutions, such as providing more convenient • NIGERIA Pairing automated calls with text
or accessible counselling centres in low-income immunisation reminders significantly improved
communities and working within civil societies to change the proportion of infants who completed all
negative social influences. routine immunisations by 12 months of age and
the timeliness of vaccines administered late in the
immunisation schedule
• MADAGASCAR Adding behavioural enhancements
to cash transfers improves early childhood
development outcomes including long-term food
security and children’s social skills
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Systemic approaches • MALAWI Shifting how providers approach family

planning counselling and integrating tools for
• JORDAN Stabilizing livelihoods of Syrian refugees in improved referrals expands the family planning
host communities and vulnerable Jordanians through choice set and improves client satisfaction
skill exchanges and employment opportunities
• MOLDOVA Shifting tuberculosis treatment to an
at-home approach increases adherence among TB Behaviourally-informed policies
patients
• SOUTH AFRICA Embedding growth mindset tools
• SENEGAL Using behavioural insights to design into education policy improves learner outcomes
a system for integration of family planning and
• HAITI Strengthening disaster preparedness policies
immunization
and protocols using behavioural insights
• SOUTH AFRICA Coupling behaviourally-informed
• Creating policies to reduce youth unemployment
feedback with infrastructure improvements improves
around the globe
water conservation

More information
To learn more about how to apply Behavioural Science, Ethical considerations
check-out this how-to guide.
• Ethical considerations when applying Behavioural
Science in projects focused on children
Moving from theory to • FORGOOD Framework for ethical considerations
application when nudging behaviour

• The Behavioural Insights Research and Design

(BIRD) Laboratory Courses
• The New Science of Designing for Humans
• Behavioural Science Programmes (ABSA)
• United Nations Behavioural Science Report 2021
• Behavioural Insights for Public Policy (BETA)
• Applying Behavioural Science to Support the
• Behavioural Science for Practitioners (ideas42)
Prevention of Violent Extremism: Experiences and
Lessons Learned • Behavioural Economics in Action (University of
Toronto/edx)
• World Development Report 2015: Mind, Society,
and Behaviour • SPANISH: Behavioural Economics for Better Policies
(IADB)
• Applied Behavioural Science (Ogilvy x 42Courses)
Frameworks and Approaches
• Michie et al.’s COM-B: Capability, Opportunity,
Motivation
Other resources
• The Behavioural Insights Team’s MINDSPACE • The Behavioural Scientist Magazine
• The Behavioural Insights Team’s EAST Framework • The Behavioural Evidence Hub (b-hub)
• UNICEF’s Behavioural Drivers Model • The Decision Lab Biases Index
• UNICEF’s Behavioural Insights Research and Design
Lab (BIRD Lab)
How-to guides
• BEAR’s Practitioner’s Guide to Nudging
• The Little Jab Book for COVID-19 Vaccination
• The OECD’s BASIC Toolkit
• The Surgo Foundation’s CUBES Toolkit