Unlocking the Power of Behavioural Science: A short review of the MRS Behavioural Science Summit 2023
30th October 2023 11:13
By Associate Director, Rachel Hancock
I was recently lucky enough to attend the MRS Behavioral Science Summit; an intellectual fiesta that left my neurons buzzing with excitement. This article isn’t just about recounting my own thoughts from the day; it's about unravelling the vast number of insights that hold potential for both DJS Research and our lovely clients.
Let’s unpack just four now…
1. The intention-action gap
Definition: In short, the difference between what people say they will do (‘intent’) and what they actually do (‘actions’).
The intention-action gap was the first key theme, with the charismatic chair of the conference (perhaps I have been influenced by authority bias!) reminding us at the start of proceedings to write down our five action points to boost the chances that we’ll follow through with a behaviour; the first of mine being to share my experiences in this article, so not a bad start!
Much of what we heard referenced the intention-action gap, including an eye-opening talk from WWF and Behaven on how they are addressing this amongst young people through evidence-based communications campaigns on food consumption. Similarly, Kantar and Reckitt participated in a discussion on whether behavioural scientists are perceived to be doing enough to tackle climate change and how to change the actions of all, not just the super eco-conscious. Aiming for a "triple-win” mentality is key here to gain buy-in from all (hint: make your solutions a win for consumers, a win for businesses and a win for the environment!)
2. BehSci responsibly…
As the chair put it brilliantly – “with great knowledge comes great responsibility”, and this was evidenced by a couple of talks in particular.
Fascinating insights from Citizens Advice and CogCo evaluating Buy Now, Pay Later products such as Klarna kicked this section off followed by NatWest and Decision Technology sharing how they simulated real-life customer journeys to increase both the reach and comprehension of their marketing permissions amongst their millions of customers.
These fascinating sessions served to hammer home the fascinating way that we, as humans, react to seemingly irrelevant factors!
3. Our actions are driven by our emotions and values amongst many other things…
BehSci is fundamentally the study of people – and there were several talks which aimed to show how people’s emotions and values impact their views, thoughts and actions.
- One of our clients, CCW, along with Ipsos, highlighted the problematic challenge of reducing water usage and shared insights on how emotion plays a role in influencing behaviour. Their study assessed two videos (one happy, the other sad) via facial coding alongside traditional survey data. Interestingly, whilst the ‘sad’ video was more emotive, the ‘happy’ video drove more behavioural change.
- BCW Global shared insights from its large-scale study on how our personal values can enable a more human-centered approach. This study assessed values and distilled them into 11 key areas, and also highlighted similarities in values across different generations. This uncovered some surprising results, particularly when it comes to the groups who are more likely to protest or adopt EVs, and the reasons may not be what you think...
4. BehSci is a piece of the puzzle, not the whole pie!
My final takeaway relates to the methodology with a common thread across all of the studies that were shared – all used many different methodologies within one study. This is key as we all know there are pros and cons of all methodologies, but by using a mixture of techniques we can get the best results for our clients. For more information on the methodologies offered by DJS – visit here.
What does this mean for DJS Research and our clients?
- Simulate real-life scenarios as much as possible: Whatever the methodology, to get the best results, situations need to be as close to real life as possible. Whether this is considering the accompanied shops approach, or designing a test website for evaluation, this really is key to getting the best insight.
- BehSci can be applied to any market or methodology: The conference had quite a consumer/sustainability focus, but at DJS we cover all sectors. There are ample ways clients can benefit from the insights of BehSci in the B2B sphere whether that be in healthcare, utilities, construction or anything else.
- There is no need to reinvent the wheel! We aren’t throwing out our traditional market research techniques; rather BehSci is a new lens for us to view things through.
I could go on, but I have the Chair’s words echoing in my brain about choice overload…
If you have any questions on BehSci and market research and how we can help your organisation please get in touch with me at rhancock@djsresearch.com.
Learn more about our Behavioural Science offer here
