Contagious Truth - behaviour change & social marketing

By Carolyn Moore: This blog post discusses how research findings help us understand what drives behavior change for handwashing.

Self-improvement recommendations to lose weight, quit smoking, or eat more fruits and vegetables can fall on deaf ears if the message is mixed, according to new research. When recommending multiple behavior changes, it's more effective if the messages are framed along similar lines, according to a new paper from Dr. Dolores Albarracin, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois. In other words, two actions or two inactions are more effective than a mix of positive and negative instructions. "What we found is that it's better to combine them in a homogeneous way," said Albarraci...

Public Health England wants its brand to become part of people’s day-to-day lives, and it is looking to smarter use of data and partnerships to achieve this.

Health policy papers disseminate recommendations and guidelines for the development and implementation of health promotion interventions. Such documents have rarely been investigated with regard to their assumed mechanisms of action for changing behaviour. The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) and Behaviour Change Techniques (BCT) Taxonomy have been used to code behaviour change intervention descriptions, but to our knowledge such “retrofitting” of policy papers has not previously been reported. This study aims first to identify targets, mediators, and change strategies for physical activ...

Respectful relationships are a prior condition for persuasion.

A new world requires new stories, but people will only listen to them when they themselves are included in the storyline. This requires a ‘gear-shift’ in conversations about radical action.

Insights from behavioural science, including that we are more generous when we are more aware of what others have given, could be used to boost charitable donations.

Can market research predict what consumers will do next? Find out in this interview with Kevin Gray and Tyler VanderWeele on causal analysis.

For customer insights, dive into a psychometric scale called OCEAN, writes Brandon Bethea, director of marketing sciences and media at Possible.

New research suggests less than 15 minutes of mindfulness training helps heavy drinkers reduce the amount they drink. Investigators from University College London found that after an 11-minute training session — and encouragement to continue practicing mindfulness — heavy drinkers drank less over the next week than people who were taught relaxation techniques. Mindfulness training helps individuals focus, without judgement, on what's happening in the present moment. "We found that a very brief, simple exercise in mindfulness can help drinkers cut back, and the benefits can be seen quite qui...

Campaigns designed to persuade young people from so-called "bolting," or chugging, an alcoholic drink appear to be completely ineffective, and in certain cases, may even make them more likely to do it, according to new research published in the journal Addiction Research and Theory. For the study, researchers analyzed participants' reactions to a poster warning of the consequences of bolting (rapidly drinking an alcoholic drink), and they discovered that the message had virtually no effect on people's future intentions. Furthermore, when a statement was added to the poster expressing how ot...

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Why do we ignore mass atrocities? It has to do with something called "psychic numbing."

Five podcast episodes that interrogate the social codes that shape our behaviour.

New research finds the emerging digital environment, in which any conduct can be

Is it money, power, and fame? Or rather fear and punishment? For nearly 40 years Richard Ryan and Edward Deci, the founders of self-determination theory, have sought to answer the question of human motivation.

Got milk? Do widely recognized campaigns like this make audiences want to drink more milk? We travel to the World Social Marketing Conference to find the answers to this important questions. In this episode, we interview Jeff Jordan, President,

What is social marketing and where does it fit in the field of public health? We travel to the World Social Marketing Conference to find the answers to this important questions. In this episode, we interview Dr.

"Just one meal that doesn't put you at risk of chronic disease."

Professor Raffaella Rumiati shares some insights into food recognition and eating behaviours that are emerging from food neuroscience research at SISSA

Keeping attention on an issue in a constantly evolving media landscape requires that nonprofits think flexibly.

This Big Ideas article discusses four design principles that can be used to build more actionable insights.

Several common barriers to developing strong network relationships—and ways to overcome them. https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/get_out_of_your_own_way_challenging_your_mindsets_and_behaviors 1

​Nov. 16, 2016 Why a thoughtful process can pay dividends to health care marketers Health ca

People don’t always act “rationally.” Nudges might be able to lead to better doctors and healthier patients.

Susan Michie calls for a radical upgrade in the use of social science to tackle poor public health

To understand consumers holistically, we must look at a variety of contexts with their corresponding behaviors, cognitions, and emotions, as well as overall values and goals