BEHAVIOR CHANGE TACTIC
Smart Defaults
Defaults refer to what happens if a person makes no choice or goes with a pre-selected choice. The influence of defaults is a foundational component of behavioral economics. Perhaps the most famous example of defaults is the difference between opt-in and opt-out organ donation programs. While not universal, several studies have found that the rate of organ donation consent in a population seems to be influenced by the default (i.e., what happens if a person does not check a box or change the pre-selected preference on a form). Smart defaults do not only refer to one-off events, however. In the well-known Save More Tomorrow program, participants were not only included in a savings program by default, but the amount they saved was also changed over time automatically (again by default). Similarly, other behavior change programs have default settings that include at-home medication or food delivery, rules-based reminders on different platforms, etc.
Studies involving Smart Defaults
PAPERS
Testing social-cognitive mediators for objective estimates of physical activity from the Healthy Eating and Active Living for Diabetes in Primary Care Networks (HEALD-PCN) study.
BEHAVIOR
Physical Activity
PAPERS
Save More Tomorrow’.
AUTHORS
Shlomo Benartzi, Richard Thaler
BEHAVIOR
Savings
TACTICS
Smart Defaults
PAPERS
Acceptability of a theory-based sedentary behaviour reduction intervention for older adults ('On Your Feet to Earn Your Seat').
BEHAVIOR
Physical Activity
PAPERS
Mobile-izing Savings with Automatic Contributions: Experimental Evidence on Dynamic Inconsistency and the Default Effect in Afghanistan.
AUTHORS
T Ghani, M Callen, J Blumenstock
BEHAVIOR
Oral Self-Care
TACTICS
Automation, Smart Defaults
PAPERS
Personalized Text Messages for Collecting Fines
BEHAVIOR
Taxes
TACTICS
Smart Defaults
PAPERS
Testing the effect of defaults on the thermostat settings of OECD employees.
BEHAVIOR
Conservation Behaviors
TACTICS
Smart Defaults
PAPERS
Habit formation in children: Evidence from incentives for healthy eating
AUTHORS
J Price, George Loewenstein, Kevin Volpp
BEHAVIOR
Diet & Nutrition
TACTICS
Micro-Incentives
PAPERS
Green Defaults: Information Presentation and Pro-Environmental Behaviour.
BEHAVIOR
Conservation Behaviors
TACTICS
Smart Defaults
PAPERS
Interventions to increase condom use among middle-aged and older adults: A systematic review of theoretical bases, behaviour change techniques, modes of delivery and treatment fidelity.
BEHAVIOR
Sexual Health Behaviors
Products leveraging Smart Defaults
PRODUCTS
TrueLink Financial
Behaviors
Savings, Financial Behaviors
Tactics
Automation, Smart Defaults, Environmental Restructuring
PRODUCTS
Nest Thermostat
Behaviors
Conservation Behaviors
Tactics
Environmental Restructuring, Automation, Social Norms +6 more
PRODUCTS
Opower
Behaviors
Other, Civic Participation
Tactics
Reduce Friction or Barriers
PRODUCTS
Earn Up
Behaviors
Financial Behaviors, Debt Reduction
Tactics
Automation, Smart Defaults, Education or Information +4 more
PRODUCTS
Lendstreet
Behaviors
Savings, Financial Behaviors, Debt Reduction
Tactics
Automation, Smart Defaults, Reduce Friction or Barriers
PRODUCTS
Charlie
Behaviors
Savings, Financial Behaviors
Tactics
Automation, Smart Defaults, Reduce Friction or Barriers +1 more
PRODUCTS
Homebase
Behaviors
Savings, Financial Behaviors, Work Behaviors
Tactics
Automation, Smart Defaults, Reduce Friction or Barriers
PRODUCTS
Qapital
Behaviors
Savings
Tactics
Environmental Restructuring, Skill Coaching
Related behavior change tactics
TACTICS
AI or Chatbot
Using a chatbot or simulated conversational interaction.
TACTICS
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT is a therapeutic approach originalled developed by Steven Hayes. It borrows from previous concepts like cognitive behavioral therapy and Morita therapy. The principles of ACT are fairly systematic and lend themselves well to program design, finding empirical support in adaptations like 2morrow's smoking cessation and pain management interventions.
TACTICS
Active Choice
Active choice, sometimes referred to as enhanced active choice or forced choice, refers to removing default options and often increasing the salience of potential decisions through emphasizing the consequences of one or more of the options. Coined by Punam Anand Keller and colleagues in 2011, it was originally intended to address concerns around paternalistic nudging for use in situations where forcing the default option may be considered unethical. In one of the original studies, CVS customers were given the choice to enroll in automatic refills of medications via delivery. The choices they were presented were ""Enroll in refills at home"" vs “I Prefer to Order my Own Refills.”
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
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
Behavioral Activation (BA)
Behavioral activation is a therapeutic approach that typically pairs activity scheduling with either monitoring tools or goal-setting. For example, someone might aim to balance activities they "should" do but underperform, like self-care behaviors, with activities they enjoy. Users of this technique may also track which activities cause certain cognitions or affective states, like those associated with depression.