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O Behave • Issue 2 • May 2014
O BEHAVE! Welcome to the second edition of O Behave, your monthly summary of the latest developments in
cognitive psychology and behavioural science, brought to you #ogilvychange.
Tim Harford’s Controversial Take on Behavioural Economics
In his recent Financial Times article, Tim Harford considers the teething problems and harsh scrutiny faced by
the discipline of behavioural economics.
He discusses a recent experiment by the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), where
they trialled eight different messages to increase organ donation. They were so
confident that social norms would be successful that they trialled three different
types but - like our BT experiment - these produced no uplift in responses. This
raises the issue that past research often fails to apply in other settings, and there
are often new theories to explain each new finding. Given there is no general
theory of behaviour, this limits the predictive power of behavioural economics. In
addition, there is debate over the definition of behavioural economics – the BIT
experiment described above, for example, is really more social psychology.
Harford also suggests that behavioural economics is so fashionable amongst politicians because the policies
are more popular with voters than more prescriptive law changes, but not necessarily more effective. For
example, while David Cameron said in a speech that the best way to reduce energy use was to give people
clear information on how much they and their neighbours were really using, it is unlikely that this would really
have as great an impact as increasing the price of energy would. Classical economics still has a role in public
policy, which can be overlooked by politicians trying to win votes with softer policies.
Biases of the Week
Fluency heuristic
We infer that things are easier, more trustworthy and of
higher value when they can be processed easily. In a
series of experiments, Song and Schwarz (2008) showed
that participants were more likely to undertake an
exercise regime or cook a new recipe if they were written
in the easy-to-read Arial font than the more cognitively
effortful Mistral font. They rated the task as more time-
consuming and requiring more skill when described in
Mistral than Arial. Similarly, Alten and Oppenheimer
(2006) found that stocks with pronounceable ticker codes
like KAR performed significantly better on their first day of
trading than stocks with codes that were not
pronounceable, like RDO. The traders instinctively valued
the stocks they were able to pronounce easily more.
Hedonic Adaptation
This is a phenomenon where people quickly become
used to changes, great or terrible, in order to maintain a
stable level of happiness. People can easily adapt to
living with less, without suffering many negative
consequences. In the same way, when we are constantly
pursuing more, we have to get even more to stay happy
and therefore people constantly purchase items to stay
happy. This phrase was made famous by Frederick and
Lowenstein in their book “Well-being: The foundations
of hedonic psychology”. Much of their research focuses
on prison inmates becoming comfortable in their
confined prison cells- a process that occurs surprisingly
quickly.
O Behave • Issue 2 • May 2014
Joint versus Individual Incentives
Incentives are one of the most popular behaviour change tools people turn to when creating interventions and
therefore it is imperative to know all there is to know about them. A new
study this month by the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) showed that group
incentives were more effective than individual incentives. Within a school
setting they split students into 3 groups: a control condition, individual
incentive and group incentive, with the goal to use an incentive to improve
grades amongst students. Those in the individual incentive group were told
that they would receive a 20% grade increase only if they passed the exam
and had a perfect attendance rate for that week. The same was told to students in the group incentive, but
with the added twist that they would only receive the 20% increase if all students in the group passed the
exam and had perfect attendance. Results showed that on average those in the “group incentive” scored
higher on their mid-terms compared to the control group. The researchers noted that this occurred due to
peer monitoring and that peer effects can be very influential particularly at this age group. The incentive also
had spill-over effects with these students also scoring higher on their homework and midterm exams in other
courses. The “individual incentive group” showed no change in grades or attendance. There aren’t enough
studies done on this topic particularly with different age groups to say conclusively that group incentives are
more effective that individual incentives. We will keep you updated with further studies in this area.
Perceptions of Past, Present and Future
At the latest Society for Personality and Social Psychology meeting in Austin, Texas, a symposium was held on
the latest research on the malleability of time perception and its implications. Work was presented by Jochim
Hansen on the way in which the mental representation of a situation influences how quickly time is perceived
to pass; if it is processed more concretely, with rich detail and contextual information, time will feel as though
it goes by much faster than if it is processed abstractly, with only
essential and global aspects coded.
Hengchen Dai demonstrated a disproportionate amount of
aspirational behaviours (e.g. health, education or career
progression) begin at temporal landmarks, such as new weeks,
months or years, known as the “fresh start effect”. This may be
because these new beginnings draw attention to the passage of
time, which allows for psychological distance between the past and
the current self. All previous imperfections and bad behaviours are
left in the past and a new self can be created.
On a similar note, Sam Maglio suggested that the way a person
defines the present – which ranged from the current moment to over a year – can determine how they
perceive future payoffs, with a shorter definition of the present being associated with higher levels of
patience. Furthermore, the simple manipulation of showing participants the statement, “There is no present,
there is only the future,” caused them to shorten their perception of the present, and they subsequently
reported greater intentions to make long-term financial plans. This could have important policy implications
for behaviours like pension savings and quitting smoking.
O Behave • Issue 2 • May 2014
The Importance of Choice
Within the behavioural science field lots of techniques for becoming more persuasive have been developed.
One of the simplest yet most effective is a phrase that has been found to double the amount of money people
give to beggars, increase how much bus fare people give, boost charitable donations and increase participation
in voluntary surveys. After conducting a meta-analysis of 42 studies involving over 22,000 participants, the
authors concluded that by placing this phrase at the end of a request
doubles the likelihood of people complying and saying “yes”.
What was this magic phrase the researchers discovered? The phrase was,
“But you are free to accept or refuse”.
The “But you are free” technique illustrates that when our freedom of
choice is reaffirmed we are more likely to comply with the request. This is
because it disarms our instinctive rejection of being told what to do. The actual words don’t matter as the
phrase, “But obviously do not feel obliged,” was found to be just as effective. This effect has been found to
work not only during face-to-face interactions but also over email, albeit to a lesser extent. This is important to
keep in mind when developing behaviour change apps and products. In order for them to be successful, the
developer must have an appreciation for this sense of autonomy.
Design in Mind
A new initiative by Professor Paul Dolan, author of MINDSPACE, and Chloe Foy called Design in Mind has been
launched to improve our health and wellbeing through the design of our workplaces. As 88% of our time is
spent in buildings and vehicles, it is crucial that they have been designed with our health and happiness in
mind. Design in Mind combines the knowledge of cutting edge wellbeing research and years of experience of
internal design to create workplaces and other spaces
designed to optimise happiness and therefore
productivity. These are implemented in an iterative
test and learn process, to determine their effects on the
inhabitants of the space and also establish return on
investment.
Dolan and Foy have summed up eight key principles of
environment design under the acronym SALIENCE,
which stands for sound, air, light, image, ergonomics,
nature, colour and evidence. These recommendations are based on a range of work from the lab and the field.
For example, the principle of nature – that drawing conscious and unconscious attention to plants and nature
can have positive effect – is supported by a study on heart surgery patients in intensive care units, which found
that those with a picture of trees and water in their room reported less anxiety and needed fewer doses of
pain medicine than a control group of patients in a room with blank walls.
O Behave • Issue 2 • May 2014
Behavioural Model
Schwartz’s Norm Activation Theory (1977)
This model, developed to explain altruistic or “helping” behaviours, describes the process by which personal norms are activated. These are feelings of moral obligation to act, which are free from social norms. Schwartz presents personal norms as arising from an individual’s innate values, but he also describes them as being internalised from social norms. Personal norms are found to be better predictors of altruistic behaviours and to be more effective at predicting a range of pro-environmental behaviours. In theories of both personal and social norms, it is held that norms are constantly present in cognitive processes, but that they only exert a significant influence when they become salient. This theory describes the process by which personal norms are activated. Norm activation essentially involves two stages; the first in which an individual feels an awareness of the consequences for others of their own actions, and the second in which the personal costs of acting are calculated with the result that responsibility may be denied. Thus this model is also good for explaining why people fail to help in certain circumstances.
Nudge of the Week
Spotted: Eyes on a Metropolitan Police notice in Enfield
Studies have shown that pictures of eyes prime more honest and cooperative behaviour. Bateson, Nettle and Roberts (2008) tested different posters above an honesty box, urging people to pay for the tea, coffee and milk they consumed in a university coffee room. They found that when there was a picture of eyes at the top of the sign, people paid almost three times as much as when there was a picture of flowers. The authors suggested that the eyes create the feeling of being watched, so the unwitting participants were more honest.
The Metropolitan Police are harnessing these insights by putting
eyes on their signs about targeting criminals in the area. This is
presumably to reduce antisocial behaviour in the area, even in the
absence of police.
O Behave • Issue 2 • May 2014
Guest Post: Introducing… Social Anthropology
#ogilvychange specialises in applying insights from the social sciences to give effective solutions to business
problems. Although this often takes the form of applying principles derived from cognitive psychology and
behavioural science, implicit in our recommendations is an appreciation that as social animals, our cultural
context provides a prism through which all psychological processes are
refracted.
The discipline of Social Anthropology provides one such method to
understand these social forces at work. From the Greek ‘the study of
mankind’, it is a holistic social science which seeks to examine the
differences and similarities between human societies by exploring the
variety of lived experience observable within them. Anthropology’s
USP is ethnography - a form of participant observation through which
practitioners work to observe everyday communal interaction to
unpack social constructs and institutions as disparate as gender,
kinship, hierarchy and economic transaction. Tracing the connection
between these helps to uncover underlying cultural frameworks
through which everyday behaviour choices are enacted and
interpreted.
Although traditionally focused on non-western contexts,
anthropologists today are just as likely to be found working in western
societies. Both Google and Intel have in-house anthropology teams,
and Microsoft is reportedly the second-largest employer of
anthropologists in the world. This week anthropologists hit the
headlines as part of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa where they are
playing a vital role working alongside aid agencies to mediate between
western and local understanding of health and the body to advise on
culturally sensitive interventions.
For a more in-depth introduction to the discipline we recommend
taking a look at the journal Cultural Anthropology, which this month
moved to become open access to promote wider understanding of the
subject. Previous topics covered have included the cultural meaning of
branding and counterfeit goods, consumerism and globalization in
India and slang and construction of identity in African American youth
culture.
New Book
Cass Sunstein – a luminary of behavioural economics and co-author of Nudge – has written a new book, which was released in April 2014. Why Nudge? The Politics of Libertarian Paternalism explores the moral and legal arguments for choice architecture and the government’s scope to design environments to help people lead longer, healthier and happier lives.
O Behave • Issue 2 • May 2014
Upcoming Events
An Evening with Dan Ariely: how to academy Sunday 18th May, 6.45-8.15pm http://www.howtoacademy.com/business/an-evening-with-dan-ariely-2377?fromcat=48 Risk Savvy: How to make good decisions with Gerd Gigerenzer Wednesday 21st May, 6.30-8.00pm http://www.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/events/2014/05/20140521t1830vOT.aspx UCL’s Theories and Models of Behaviour Change launch event Monday 2nd June, 5.00-7.00pm http://www.ucl.ac.uk/behaviour-change/cbc-events/event4 Nudgestock 2 Friday 6th June, 10.30am-6.00pm http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nudgestock-2-tickets-11101387549
Brought to you by:
Cíosa Juliet Rebecca Guest Anthropologist
@CiosaGarrahan
@hulietjodges
@rebeccanomics
O Behave • Issue 2 • May 2014
References & Links
Tim Harford’s Controversial Take on Behavioural Economics
Harford (2014). Behavioural economics and public policy.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/9d7d31a4-aea8-11e3-aaa6-00144feab7de.html#axzz2zo6DC8ZY
Joint versus Individual Incentives
Cabrera & Cid (2014). Joint-Liability vs. Individual Incentives in the Classroom Lessons from a Field
Experiment with Undergraduate Students.
http://www2.um.edu.uy/jmcabrera/Research/Jointly_Liability_vs_Individual_Incentives_28012014.
Perceptions of Past, Present and Future
Dai (2014). Malleable Time Perception and its Implications for Self-Control and Goal Pursuit.
http://www.spspblog.org/malleable-time-perception-and-its-implications-for-self-control-and-goal-
pursuit/
The Importance of Choice
Carpenter (2013). A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of the “But you are free” compliance-gaining
technique.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10510974.2012.727941#preview
Design in Mind
Dolan & Foy (2014). Design in Mind. Stimulating Environments.
http://www.slideshare.net/upload?from_source=loggedin_slideview_navbar
Guest Post: Introducing Social Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology journal
http://www.culanth.org/
Poon (2014). Why Anthropologists Join An Ebola Outbreak Team.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/04/02/298369305/why-anthropologists-join-an-ebola-
outbreak-team