Changing Behaviour – Going Beyond Nudge

May 11, 2011

Government is becoming increasingly interested in the concept of behaviour change and nudge. How can they be actually implemented at the local level?

The Cabinet Office now has its own dedicated unit looking at these methods led by Dr David Halpern; the Department of Health has set out how healthier lifestyles can underpin a NHS service; policy makers have explored how citizens can be encouraged or nudged towards giving money in greater volume to philanthropic causes. And the Government’s Big Society agenda more generally requires citizens to adopt new civic and social responsibilities.

Notwithstanding this level of interest, the debates have too often stalled in theoretical discussions before they have entered the town halls. Either that or they have been adopted on the margins, where their impact has been difficult to measure. However, in times of limited resources, the key question is whether behaviour change can be utilised to manage demand and increase citizen participation levels in services. As traditional supply side reforms near exhaustion, policy makers are being forced to look for new sources of efficiencies and cost savings.

In some service areas, a tweak or nudge at the top may work. For instance, simply shifting from an ‘opt in’ to an ‘opt out’ for pension contributions or organ donation triggers significantly higher uptake. And, government has a whole suite of techniques and tactics for changing behaviour. These include:

 tax, rewards, regulation and subsidies which can be used to incentivise or disincentivise certain actions;
 “choice architecture” to shape decisions and reflect humans’ inherent predictability when it comes to certain choices (e.g. benefits now against costs later, infrequent decisions, aversion to loss).
 Making use of peer pressure, social norms and status to encourage positive civic behaviours.

However, many frontline services are so complex and personal that universal triggers are very unlikely to elicit the desired response. Neither can government hope realistically to transform people’s lifestyles simply by providing more information on the problem.

In fact, Government needs to possess an in-depth understanding of what causes the behaviours which are fundamental to a person’s life. How are the lifestyles and behaviours of citizens affected by the actions and expectations of their peers? What are the constraints (financial, physical) which would have to be removed or revised in order to unlock new behaviours?

A new research report from NLGN, Changing Behaviours Opening a new conversation with the citizen, published in the last few weeks, sets out some practical methods for how citizens can be more involved in designing and delivering new services. The research tracks a series of pilots and emerging case studies which employ qualitative methods to understand citizens’ underlying motivations and values. These pilots use a methodology known as ‘value modes’. This maps systematically the values that underlie behaviour in relation to personal characteristics and traits which affect whether people are quick or slow in the adoption of a new idea. This knowledge and insight allows councils to shape services around the fundamental values as well as needs of citizens.

Under this approach, the population are segmented into three parts:

 Settlers (security driven) – their needs are Safety and Security; and Belonging.
 Prospectors (outer directed or esteem driven) – their needs are Esteem from Others; and Self Esteem.
 Pioneers (inner directed) – their needs are Aesthetic cognitive; Self Actualization.

With such insights, local authorities are positioned better to identify a suite of values which can be mobilised to change behaviour such as ‘keeping up with the Joneses’; creativity; empathy and ‘following the crowd’. Which is most likely to trigger responses from different people?

A specific example includes re-designing Special Educational Needs Transport services. A number of councils have used the value modes methodology to understand what citizens value in the service, and where they might be ready to accept greater responsibility. Segmenting the population and exploring the issues with these different groups has meant that new approaches such as personal budgets and travel training can be phased in effectively. In so doing, this change has contributed to budget reductions in these services of fifteen to twenty percent.

Behaviour change approaches offer a significant range of alternatives to renew the relationship with the citizen and reduce demand and costs of services. Such methods should be part of everyday policy-making rather than a ‘novel alternative’ which can be bolted on or adopted as a discretionary extra. Putting behaviour change into practice and establishing it as part of the everyday toolbox of public managers and commissioners requires widespread and radical change to the way that government works: to its priorities, to the way it resources services, to its organisations and skills-sets, to the way it communicates with citizens and to political and civic leadership. It is nothing short of a wholesale inversion of the traditional model of supply-driven public services.

Changing Behaviours: Opening a new conversation with the citizen by Nigel Keohane was published on 20th April 2011 by NLGN.


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