1. Using behavioural insights to help citizens change their behaviour
Felicity Algate
Director, BIT: North
June 2019

2. We need to think differently about behaviour
System 1
Fast thinking/Automatic
intuitive, effortless
2x2
Taking your daily commute
System 2
Slow thinking/Reflective
deliberate, analytic
24x17
Planning a trip overseas
“It turns out that the environmental effects on behavior are a lot stronger than most people expect”
Daniel Kahneman

3. If you want someone to do something, make it:
BIT’s EAST Framework
If you want someone to do something, make it:
Easy
Attractive
Timely
Social
© The Behavioural Insights Team

4. Prompting people when they are most receptive
In July 2016, The City of Portland launched its bicycle-sharing service; BIKETOWN.
The city worked with the Behavioral Insights Team (BIT) to design and send postcards to residents to encourage them to sign up for a pass.
Two groups of residents:
those who had recently moved to a new address within the city, and
those who had not moved, but who live near a newly added BIKETOWN station. This distinction was made in order to evaluate the “fresh start effect” which finds that shifts in individuals’ circumstances, like a new move, make them more likely commit to new behaviors.
For these two groups, the city tested two messages:
Described the discount in terms of what the rider got for free; either a day pass, four single rides, or the first month of an annual membership.
Described the discount as a monetary value - $12 off any ride type - that was essentially equivalent to the free rides offer.
In addition to trying to increase ridership overall, the city was interested in whether either of these message types worked better, as well as whether new movers were more responsive to the postcards than those with a new station in their vicinity.
Overall, the results show that the two messages did not have significantly different effects on signup rates. However, the “free rides” postcard was three times as effective as the “$12 off” postcard specifically for those who lived near a new station. When looking at recipients, we find that new movers were nearly four times more likely to sign up than those who lived near a new station, regardless of the message.  

5. System one’s rules of thumb
Take the path of least resistance
Follow the crowd whenever possible
Pay more attention to things that seem unusual
Worry about tomorrow’s problems tomorrow
System one is able to be so efficient by treating complex information and situations using simplified rules of thumb. Now, in isolation it’s easy to see how these rules could go wrong but the reality is that they serve us incredibly well most of the time: by simplifying routine decisions we keep our cognitive energy in reserves for the things that really matter. We borrow this principle to make our own simple rules for those seeking to use behavioural science to improve their communications, policies and services.
However, these rules can trip us up and this is what the work of BIT is about.
Trust people who are likeable
© The Behavioural Insights Team
© The Behavioural Insights Team