Post on 20-Oct-2020
Seven key behavioural science-based concepts for optimisingeveryday communications
Crawford Hollingworth and Liz arker
WARC e t Practice, eptem er 2018
UMMARY
Di cu e even ehavioural cience a ed concept which are ke tool for optimi ing ever dacommunication : Choice Architecture, alience, Anchoring, Framing, Chunking, Cognitive a eand ocial Norm .
The even concept outlined a ove, all of them a ed around in ight and evidence fromehavioural cience, are ome of the mo t effective tool for enhancing communication .
It’ the e tool which will help ou o tain the de ired re pon e ou o need from people, e thecu tomer , patient , citizen or con umer .
Applied a part of the 4- tep proce we outlined in our ‘ i ter’ e t Practice paper: How to applehavioural cience to uild more effective ever da communication , ou’ll have a ullet-prooftrateg for developing an piece of comm .
Jump to: Definitions | 1. Choice architecture | 2. Salience | 3-4. Framing and Anchors |5. Chunking and feedback | 6. Cognitive ease | 7. Social norms | Summary |Further reading | Sources
This paper discusses seven Behavioural Science based concepts which are keytools for optimising everyday communications: Choice Architecture, Salience,Anchoring, Framing, Chunking, Cognitive Ease and Social Norms.
To learn how these concepts can be applied to everyday communications such asvarious marketing channels i.e. letters, emails, texts and posters, see our ‘sister’Best Practice paper: How to apply behavioural science to build more effectiveeveryday communications.(http://www.warc.com//content/article/How_to_apply_behavioural_science_to_build_more_effective
_everyday_communications/123270) This paper outlines a simple four-step processfor applying these concepts to optimise everyday communications.
Definition
Behavioural science embraces the cognitive biases and nuances of humanbehaviour. It provides us with a far more accurate model of human behaviour,and gives us the frameworks, concepts and tools to both understand behaviour –why we make certain decisions and choices, form habits and generally behave inthe way we do, and ultimately to change behaviour.
Communications (comms) is defined in this context as marketing, operationaland organisational communications across multiple channels, including written(letters, emails, texts, posters etc.) and voice communications.
1. Choice architecture
How we are presented with choices can have a dramatic impact on what wechoose – for example, we can be influenced by the other options we see, theorder we look at them in and how they are physical or visually arranged.
Sometimes we might be steered towards a single option: one of the most effectiveways to generate action known in behavioural science is to let customers knowthey are being automatically opted in to a service that is in their interest, whilstletting them know they can (easily) opt-out if they wish. This means that anycommunications - letters or emails - need only inform a customer of a change totheir service and to tell them that no action is required unless they wish to opt-
out. Typically, this results in around 80-90% of people accepting the change,compared to 30% or less if people need to proactively opt-in. Many have goodintentions, but simply don’t get around to it. For example, opt-out rates for theUK’s auto-enrollment pension scheme are around 8-10%.
An automatic opt-in needs to be applied with care, because as it requires little orno thought on the part of the customer, they may not fully reflect on itsimplications or be aware of what they have agreed to.
Another technique is to prompt a decision from a customer, asking them tochoose between two or more options – this is known as active choice. Unlike thedefault approach, this requires customers to take action and make a choice inorder to proceed in the consumer journey. For example, since 2011, driversapplying for a provisional license in the UK have been asked whether they wouldlike to add their name to the organ donation register or defer that decision fornow.1
This type of technique generally leads to opt-in rates of 60-70% - still prettyeffective, but less so than the automatic opt-in discussed above.
The bottom line is, if you need your customers to make a choice, thinkthrough the different ways you could present it to them. The exercise ofexploring the potential choice architecture options you could adopt can behighly enlightening – remember there is always more than one way to presenta choice!
2. alience
A number of actions have been shown to improve salience. We pay attention toinformation or objects that stand out and catch our eye. In communications, thismeans our attention will automatically be drawn to what’s dominant on thepage or screen – imagery, colour, larger, bolder fonts or symbols.Unsurprisingly, researchers have found that bullet points and bold type areeffective in highlighting action points.
For example, an FCA trial optimising a letter to inform customers they wereeligible for a refund on a financial product found that salient bullet points had thegreatest impact of several tweaks, raising response rates by 3.8% over thecontrol.
Research has also shown that location on a page or screen can be key; puttingaction points or key information first or on the left-hand column catches ourattention most effectively. For instance, a trial in New York City investigated theuse of salience in their court summons to reduce citizens’ failure to appear. Theresearchers focused on ensuring key information - the date, time and location ofthe hearing - were visually salient and easy to read on the letter. They alsochanged the title of the form from the rather vague ‘Complaint/Information’ to‘Criminal Court Appearance Ticket’ - wouldn’t the latter grab your attentionquickly!? The new form alone reduced the number of people failing to attendcourt by 6.4%: from 41% to under 36%.
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Sometimes simple visuals can prompt action too. These TV licensingcommunications encouraging consumers to switch to paperless billing usecoloured buttons to make it easy to understand and quick to act upon (seeimages).
With these tips in mind, take another look at a piece of comms you’re workingon. What immediately stands out? How might you pique someone’s interest toget them started? Will the single most important piece of information that theconsumer needs to know about get their attention? If not, how could it bemade more salient? Adding bullet points, colour or bolding text can all help tobring the key information to people’s attention.
3-4. Framing and Anchor
Framing or presenting information in a certain way and using reference pointsor points of comparison, known as anchors, can dramatically increasemeaning and therefore engagement.
Comprehension of information can be improved by presenting information in away that makes it understandable and which can be easily compared to whatconsumers are familiar with – providing what’s known as an anchor or referencepoint. For example, useful framing and anchor points can be offered incontrasting an insurance premium renewal price with what a customer paid lastyear or what changes in benefits or terms and conditions compare to in real termsor against competitors.
We drew on the concept of framing for an online service directory that helpsconsumers find and get quotes from businesses. They asked us to help optimisean email aimed at increasing the number of businesses subscribing to theservice, by reframing the benefits of subscription. We rewrote and reformattedthe email to change the focus away from a transactional frame - subscriptionrenewal - to the increased potential of attracting and finding new clients. Thishelped to highlight the benefits of subscription rather than drawing attention toan impending cost. In addition, we reframed the cost of the service to help makeit feel more affordable, presenting it in terms of its monthly cost rather than thelump sum annual cost. These, amongst other changes, led to a 15% increase insubscription renewals which translated to an additional $770,000 of business. Ontop of this came cost savings for our client, as their call centre staff no longer hadto follow up on lapsed clients.
We can also use language to help identify the potential risks of failing to takeaction. People will typically make greater effort to avoid a loss than they will torealise a gain. For example, highlighting how much money people are losingthrough paying too high a tariff is typically more effective than showing thesavings they can make by switching.
It’s important not to scare customers so there’s a fine balance betweenemphasising that something needs their attention and making it so threateningthat people simply bury their heads in the sand. Writing in an empathetic, helpful
way, whilst still emphasising the urgency, can lead to significant improvements inresponse rates and customer satisfaction.
How might you reframe a message? There is always more than one frame.How might you reframe potential savings into real losses? Or how might yougive numbers more meaning by putting them into perspective with easy tounderstand comparisons? Can information be positioned more favourablyand with more meaning by providing simple reference points?
5. Chunking and feed ack
To help consumers feel that a task is manageable, quick to complete and not toodaunting, it can help to minimise and make clear the steps required to takeaction. This technique is known as chunking and using it in communications canmake the difference between a customer taking the desired action, or never doinganything about it.
One example of applying chunking comes from work we conducted with aSuperannuation (pensions) provider in Australia identified that many of itsmembers had multiple superannuation accounts, sometimes up to seven or eightseparate accounts, which was often overly costly. Despite the consolidationprocess being quite simple, members weren’t taking it up as they found it overlycomplex and time intensive. Our recommendation was to increase cognitive ease(see our next concept, discussed below) and to chunk the process down intosmall steps, the first of which was asking members if they would like a free ‘Supersearch’ done by the Australian Tax Office on their behalf, to establish how manyaccounts they had and to perhaps even find lost accounts. To initiate, all themember had to do was respond to a text message with one word. This simpleintervention resulted in a double digit increase in rates of superannuationconsolidation.
So if your communication requires a customer to take action on something,analyse all the steps involved and look at how you can let them know wherethey are in that journey, whether there is an easy first step to get theminvolved and how you can feedback to them how they are doing andencourage them in their progress to completion.
6. Cognitive ea e
When information is presented in a way that requires minimal cognitive capacity –mental effort – and lets someone make decisions using more of their “System 1”thinking – automatic, intuitive, effortless – we can say it’s high in ‘cognitive ease’.Conversely, if people have to engage their ‘System 2’ mode of thinking – whereby ittakes more effort to comprehend information – they are less likely to take action,and, particularly if they are busy, may give up trying to read it. Therefore, effectivecommunication tends to ensure high levels of cognitive easy, making sure it’s as easyas possible for anyone to understand and respond to.
To maximise cognitive ease, and better engage consumers, it helps to use PlainEnglish, minimise jargon and acronyms and maximise use of simple laymanterms. It can often be hard to put ourselves in our customers’ shoes and remindourselves what terminology and language they will and won’t be familiar with.However, if language is too complex and alien, customers are unlikely to read it,let alone absorb the information and take action.
Richard Thaler, co-author of the bestselling book ‘Nudge’, won the Nobel Prizefor Economics last year for his work on behavioural economics. He has afavourite mantra: ‘Make it easy’. This not only means communication should beeasy to understand, but the desired action should be made clear too and easy toact on too.
Improving cognitive ease can also simply mean reducing the word count of aletter to make it less overwhelming. Legal expenses insurance company DASworked with the behavioural science consultancy The Hunting Dynasty to maketheir welcome letters more easily understandable, demonstrating to the FCA thatthey have customer interests at heart. They reduced a 261-word letter to just 91words whilst also increasing comprehension and retaining reading ease.
Sometimes however, a long information pack is unavoidable and legallynecessary. In this case, research suggests it can help to put a summary sheet upfront, so people can access key information easily.
What parts of your communications might be engaging System 2 versusSystem 1? Have you asked others outside of your expertise to read it throughand make sure it’s accessible, with minimal jargon and easy to understand by awider audience? If there is a lot of information to share, can you make it moresuccinct or at the very least put the key information in a cover page?
7. ocial norm
When we need people to take action or change their behaviour, letting them knowthat others have done it already – known as a descriptive social norm – can be aneffective way of encouraging them to do likewise. We generally want to do whatothers are doing and conform to the behaviours of our peers. Most people won’tdefiantly refuse to take action, more likely they simply won’t have got around to it,not realising that everyone else has.
This technique is even more impactful if people are aware that ‘others’ like themin their area, peer or demographic group have responded already, particularlyteenagers and young adults who neuroscientists have found are even moreinfluenced by peer behaviour.
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There is also another type of social norm – called injunctive social norms –which is about what society as a whole expects us to be doing. For example,society expects and approves of tipping a waiter, or not dropping litter or usingsuncream. Highlighting that it’s customary to do something, or emphasising thatmost people believe or expect others in society to do something can generate astronger response.
Can you express a desired behaviour in terms of the number of people alreadydoing it? Can you hone in on the type of people doing it and match it to yourcustomer(s)? Can you engage injunctive social norms – highlighting andreminding people about what society believes we should be doing?
ummar
The seven concepts we’ve outlined, all of them based around insights andevidence from behavioural science, are some of the most effective tools forenhancing communications and helping to make them more effective. It’s thesetools which will help you obtain the desired response you so need from people,be they customers, patients, citizens or consumers. Applied as part of the 4-stepprocess we outlined in our ‘sister’ Best Practice paper: How to apply behaviouralscience to build more effective everyday communications(http://www.warc.com//content/article/How_to_apply_behavioural_science_to_build_more_effective
_everyday_communications/123270), you’ll have a bullet-proof strategy for developingany piece of comms!
Keyconcept
Definition Application
Choicearchitecture
Consumer choicesare influences by theway in which choicesare presented tothem. There is noneutral way topresent choice.
If you need your customers tomake a choice, think through thedifferent ways you could present itto them. Remember there is alwaysmore than one way to present achoice!
Salience Salience is the stateor condition of beingprominent. Thesalience of an item iswhat makes it standout relative to itsneighbours. OurSystem 1automatically picksup salient stimuli.
What immediately stands out inthe comms? How might you piquesomeone’s interest to get themstarted? Will the single mostimportant piece of information thatthe consumer needs to know aboutget their attention? If not, howcould it be made more salient?Adding bullet points, colour orbolding text can all help to bringthe key information to people’sattention.
Anchoring When making adecision, consumersanchor or rely on aspecific piece ofinformation andthen adjust from thispoint.
How might you give numbersmore meaning by putting theminto perspective with easy tounderstand comparisons? Caninformation be positioned morefavourably and with more meaningby providing simple referencepoints?
Framing The wayinformation ispresented – orderedor framed – has asignificant impact ondecision making.
How might you reframe amessage? There is always morethan one frame. How might youreframe potential savings into reallosses?
Chunking A large task or goalcan be daunting andput people off.Breaking down atask into partsmakes it seem muchmore achievable andmanageable.
Analyse all the steps involved in atask and look at how you can letconsumers know where they are inthat journey. Is there an easy firststep to get them involved? Howcan you feedback to them how theyare doing and encourage them intheir progress to completion?
Cognitiveease
The natural desire aperson has to makedecisions andjudgments using“System 1” thinking.When information ispresented in a waythat requiresminimal cognitivecapacity and letssomeone makedecisions using‘System 1’ thinking.
Make sure the comms is accessible,with minimal jargon and easy tounderstand by a wider audience. Ifthere is a lot of information toshare, can you make it moresuccinct or at the very least put thekey information in a cover page?
Socialnorms
When we areuncertain orunconfident aboutwhat to do, we lookto other people toguide us – valuingtheir opinions andemulating theirbehaviours.
Can you express a desiredbehaviour in terms of the numberof people already doing it? Can youhone in on the type of peopledoing it and match it to yourcustomer(s)?
Further reading
WARC Topic Page: Behavioural Insight (http://www.warc.com//topics/consumer-research/behavioural-insight?
Sort=ContentDate%7c1&DVals=4294615732+4294615714+10787+10786+10785&FstEntry=false&Re
cordsPerPage=25)
WARC Best Practice: What we know about consumer decision making(http://www.warc.com//content/paywall/article/bestprac/what_we_know_about_consumer_decision_
making/108516)
WARC Best Practice: What we know about behavioural economics(http://www.warc.com//content/paywall/article/bestprac/what_we_know_about_behavioural_econo
mics/107582)
How to apply behavioural science to build more effective everydaycommunications(http://www.warc.com//content/article/How_to_apply_behavioural_science_to_build_more_effective
_everyday_communications/123270)
Hollingworth, Crawford,: ‘Using BE scaffolding to improve communications(https://www.marketingsociety.com/the-gym/using-%E2%80%98be-scaffolding%E2%80%99-
improve-communications#B0LV9wyHoY3RZ90c.97)’, The Behavioural Architects, TheMarketing Society, March 2016
ource
1. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/driving-up-organ-donations(https://www.gov.uk/government/news/driving-up-organ-donations)
2. FCA Occasional paper No. 2 ‘Encouraging consumers to claim redress:evidence from a field trial’, April 2013
3. Using Behavioral Science to Improve Criminal Justice Outcomes(http://urbanlabs.uchicago.edu/attachments/store/9c86b123e3b00a5da58318f438a6e787dd01d66d0ef
ad54d66aa232a6473/I42-954_NYCSummonsPaper_Final_Mar2018.pdf), ideas42 & UrbanLabs, Jan 2018
4. http://www.thehuntingdynasty.com/ (http://www.thehuntingdynasty.com/)
About the authors
Crawford Hollingworth Co-Founder, The ehavioural ArchitectCrawford Hollingworth i co-Founder of The ehavioural Architect , which he launched in 2011 withco-Founder ian Davie and arah Davie . He wa al o founder of HeadlightVi ion in London and NewYork, a ehavioural trend re earch con ultanc . HeadlightVi ion wa acquired WPP in 2003. He hawritten and poken widel on the u ject of ehavioural economic for variou in titution andpu lication , including the Market Re earch ociet , Marketing ociet , Market Leader, Aura, AQR,London u ine chool and Impact magazine. Crawford i a Fellow of The Marketing ociet andRo al ociet of Art .
Liz arker Glo al Head of Intelligence & Network , The ehavioural ArchitectLiz arker i Glo al Head of Intelligence & Network at The ehavioural Architect , advancing the
application of ehavioural cience ridging the world of academia and u ine . Her ackground i
TOPICCOMMUNICATION D V LOPM NT R ARCH (http://www.warc.com// earch/creative-development/Communication development re earCON UM R D CI ION MAKING (http://www.warc.com// earch/ ehavioural-in ight/Con umer deci ion making)
HAVIOURAL R ARCH (http://www.warc.com// earch/ ehavioural-in ight/ ehavioural re earch)HAVIOURAL CONOMIC (http://www.warc.com// earch/ ehavioural-in ight/ ehavioural economic )
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in conomic , particularl the application of ehavioural economic acro a wide range of field , fromglo al u ine and finance to international development. Liz ha a A and M c in conomic fromCam ridge and Oxford.