THE BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS GUIDE 2016

How to Apply Behavioural Science with Success: Learning from
Application Around the World
Crawford Hollingworth and Liz Barker, The Behavioural Architects
(crawford@thebearchitects.com, liz@thebearchitects.com)
"Moving forward in behaviour change should be a mix of
applying insights from literature and learning from
application"
Daniel Kahneman, 2015
Introduction
Behavioural science is increasingly being applied all around the world by companies - such as
Google, eBay, Prudential, Disney and Unilever - by governments – including the UK, US, Australia
and Canada, and by not-for-profit organisations such as the World Bank and DfiD.
You know the application of behavioural science has become mainstream when the President of
the United States issues an Executive Order to ensure behavioural science is used to design better
government policies. Commenting on the move, Barack Obama said:
“Adopting the insights of behavioral science will help bring our government into the 21st century in a
wide range of ways - from delivering services more efficiently and effectively; to accelerating the
transition to a clean energy economy; to helping workers find better jobs, gain access to educational
opportunity, and lead longer, healthier lives." (The White House, 2015)
We have also seen global platforms springing up, such as the Behavioural Exchange and
Behavioral Science & Policy Association (BSPA) conferences, attracting delegates from science,
government and the corporate sector; platforms through which the latest insights from
behavioural science can be disseminated, which provide a bridge into the academic world and
enable academics to meet face to face with practitioners who have the influence, access to data,
consumers and budgets to make things happen.
The development of behavioural science has also required a new type of research and strategic
consultancy. Since our inception in 2011, we have seen many new research companies emerge
leveraging behavioural science and seen older, more traditional companies at least include it as
part of their offer.
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