Rethinking social movements: less who we are, more what we do.

When behavioural scientists think about behaviours - defined as who does what to a person or thing, where and when - they are without judgement. It is when motivations and consequences are assigned to particular behaviours that values and identities are attached to those performing the behaviours. This means people with strong, ‘good’ values and who see themselves as good people can enact behaviours that others might view differently, such as stopping traffic on a major city bridge to bring attention to climate change; the motivation (for them) is for social good, the result (for others) is chaos.

It also means that diverse values and identities may be attached to the same behaviour.  Someone from the political right may install solar panels to prove they are independent and off-grid, while someone from the political left may do the same to show their concerns are climate change and social justice. Same outcome, but different motivations.

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Behaviour change as a values bridge

So, behaviour change can be a bridge for those seeking to bring about change. Instead of a social movement asking “Are you with us?”, the questions could be (from a behaviour change perspective) “What change do we want to see?” and “What steps can we take to get there?”.

Behavioural science helps us understand that ‘we are not all the same ’ and that others may not share our point of view. We all have unique motivations and values; through understanding, we can find common actions even if the fuel is different. This means that change necessitates a fundamental exchange so initiatives can come from a place of appreciation for the diversity of motivations and values.

So how could behaviour change help mainstream lifestyle changes associated with a movement? For something like the circular economy, could the behaviour shift to buying three new items of clothing per year? For climate action, could it be reducing international flights to one every five years?  Or for trips under 5 km, could it be committing to using active transport (walking or cycling)?

Sustainability movements

For the sake of this discussion, let’s look at movements that have a sustainability focus, like One Planet Living or vegetarianism, and a behaviour that could help their cause: replacing red meat with more plant-based options. We’ll focus on three main approaches to maximise potential impact: Identifying what action would have an impact, promoting the action and then supporting spillover.

To support this:  

●     Clearly define specific action(s) - i.e. behaviours - that align with the objective. Behaviours include the ‘who’ (the audience) and ‘what’ (the behaviour). The ‘who’ might be the person who does the shopping. The ‘what’ would be to choose more vegetables and non-meat-based options during the weekly shop. Thinking beyond “values” to consider behaviours could already help asocial movement.

●     Where possible, focus on higher-impact and achievable behaviours. For instance, focusing on actions that reduce actual red meat consumption could be considered a higher impact action than, say, focusing on joining a group on Facebook. Similarly,  encouraging Meat-free Mondays could be more achievable for people joining a movement than, say, encouraging the complete elimination of red meat from their diet.

Then, work out how this action can bepromoted and how the change could be sustained over time. To support this:

●     Try to understand the main drivers of the behaviour of interest. As mentioned earlier, people may “do the thing” for different reasons or have different entry points to the movement. For example, is the availability of cheap red meat the driving factor of consumption? Or is it a healthy choice to choose meat over carbs?  

●     Engagement practices should target those main drivers to effectively encourage and maintain the desired behaviour. The drivers mentioned above would indicate different values to speak to when promoting actions, such as financial or health factors.

Engagement and promoting the action could include:

●     Make it seem larger and more widespread (amplify the behaviour) to engage others in it (the movement).  Media stories could suggest this is the ‘new thing’, or a way to deal with the cost of living, tapping into different drivers to achieve the same outcome.

●     Involve charismatic leaders who can establish a new norm and foster a sense of community. Social media is awash with influencers displaying and amplifying their lifestyle choices, and celebrity endorsement through initiatives such as cookbooks can make the change more appealing.

Being aware of and using key principles ofpersuasion is critical:

●     Do’s: Keep it easy, as keeping things easy can boost people’s confidence and motivation (while setting unrealistic goals or expectations can be disempowering). Also keep things attractive and personally relevant for your audience, with success stories.  

●     Don’ts: Avoid highlighting negative norms, like highlighting the size of the problem (this can backfire). Similarly, avoid being overly negative (e.g. using fear) or dogmatic as this can often backfire.

Importantly, promoting these initial actions could produce spillover effects, where one behaviour triggers others with similar drivers.

While research into spillover is still emerging, some studies have suggested that identity and self-efficacy may be key to shifting behaviour from one to the next.  Hence, interventions may be more effective at fostering spillover when they leverage of existing behaviour and use identity (e.g. "you put solar panels on your roof, so you must be someone who cares about climate change") or self-efficacy (e.g. “you really are a can do person, when it comes it to climate action").

These behaviours could, in turn, give momentum to the movement. Using our example of solar panels, we may find that householders that install solar panels can be encouraged to purchase other energy efficiency appliances, and undertake energy efficiency behaviours. Over time, our private lifestyle behaviours may change to align with our political or civil behaviours, so we’re ‘walking the talk’ of the social movement we belong to.

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Key tips and takeaways

To maximise the impact of a social movement, behavioural science can:

●     Help identify and clearly define what behaviour should be promoted. This means focusing on high-impact and achievable behaviours that directly contribute to the desired outcome, rather than merely seeking agreement on values or identity.  

●     Use effective strategies to promote the behaviour. This includes amplifying the behaviour by making it visible, involving charismatic leaders, and drawing on strategies that align with the main drivers of the behaviour.

●     Help sustain the changes by monitoring the effectiveness of the strategies implemented, and adapting them as needed to fit with the audience and the broader context.

●     Use identity and self-efficacy to encourage spillover, but keep abreast of the latest thinking because this space is changing rapidly.

In our book ‘Inspiring Change; How to Influence Behaviour for a Better World’, we set out some of the steps when it comes to identifying and prioritising target behaviours.  

In changing the question from ‘Are you with us?’, to ‘What can we do to help the cause?’, Behavioural Science may help social movements not only get up but stay up and bring about change for good.

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Further resources

○     MfE behavioural comms guide - insights library section (has some guidance for applying insights to communications)

○     BWA blog post: https://www.behaviourworksaustralia.org/blog/what-influences-behaviour