Learn how to change behavior.
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Behavior change and behavior design models

MODELS
Attention, Belief, Choice, Determination
TYPE
Behavior design process / heuristics
ORGANIZATION
OECD

MODELS
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
TYPE
Therapeutic approach
PEOPLE
Aaron Beck
PRODUCTS USING
NASH, Sleepio, Learn to Live, Ieso Digital Health, myStrength, MoodHacker, Sanvello, UpLift, TAO Connect, Stoic, wayForward, Daylight, Braive, Youper, MoodMission, MoodKit, MindBeacon, Workit Health, Woebot

MODELS
EAST | Easy Attractive Social Timely
TYPE
Behavior design process / heuristics
PEOPLE
Owain Service, Michael Hallsworth, David Halpern
ORGANIZATION
UK Behavioural Insights Team (BIT)

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

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

MODELS
BASIC | Behavior, Analysis, Strategy, Intervention, Change
TYPE
Behavior design process / heuristics
ORGANIZATION
OECD
Tactics that change behavior

TACTICS
Coaching or Counselling
Coaching or counselling here refers to having a trained person provide guidance to someone attempting a behavior. Many mental health and lifestyle programs utilize coaching in various forms, including phone calls, video chat, text messaging, or in-person sessions. Some programs have replaced some or all of these traditionally human-delivered touchpoints with AI or rules-based interactions.

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
AI or Chatbot
Using a chatbot or simulated conversational interaction.

TACTICS
Education or Information
Education refers to empowering a person with more knowledge or training than they had previously. While providing information alone is often a suboptimal way to drive meaningful behavior change or long-term interventions, the right message at the right time can be a powerful part of a behavior change strategy.

TACTICS
Behavior Substitution
Behavior substitution refers to attempting to eliminate a problematic behavior by replacing it with another one. Often, the substituted behaviors are intended to have similar sensory qualities (e.g. drink flavored sparkling water instead of soda). The goal is typically to disassociate the original behavior from its cue, enabling the more positive behavior to be triggered automatically.

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
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
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.
Products that change behavior
PRODUCTS
Accupedo
Behaviors
Physical Activity
Tactics
Education or Information, Reminders, Cues +3 more

PRODUCTS
Aaptiv

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
Advanced Brain Monitoring
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
AbleTo
Behaviors
Mental Health & Self-Care
Tactics
Personalization, Skill Coaching, Coaching or Counselling
PRODUCTS
ActiveLifestyle

PRODUCTS
Aduri
Behaviors
Mental Health & Self-Care
Research on behavior change
PAPERS
Nutrition education worksite intervention for university staff: application of the health belief model.
BEHAVIOR
Diet & Nutrition
PAPERS
Interrupting pathways to sepsis: Effectiveness of an intervention to reduce delays in timely care for sick children in rural Bangladesh.
BEHAVIOR
Other
PAPERS
A Digital Diabetes Prevention Program (Transform) for Adults With Prediabetes: Secondary Analysis
PRODUCT
Transform
BEHAVIOR
Physical Activity, Diet & Nutrition
PAPERS
Increasing screening mammography in asymptomatic women: evaluation of a second-generation, theory-based program.
BEHAVIOR
Other
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
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
PAPERS
Designing prenatal care messages for low-income Mexican women.
BEHAVIOR
Other
TACTICS
Education or Information
PAPERS
Pathway to health: cluster-randomized trial to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among smokers in public housing.
BEHAVIOR
Diet & Nutrition
TACTICS
Motivational Interviewing
PAPERS
Continuous glucose monitoring counseling improves physical activity behaviors of individuals with type 2 diabetes: A randomized clinical trial.
BEHAVIOR
Physical Activity, Disease Management