Stop Trying to Scold or Inform Your Way to Behavior Change
Most public awareness campaigns get seen. Far fewer change what people do. We break down the creative and design strategy behind campaigns that move audiences from noticing to acting.
It seems straightforward and logical. Tell people about the risks of a behavior and they will change that behavior. So many behavior change campaigns follow this logic straight to irrelevance.
Why do so many logically structured behavior change campaigns, created and green-lit by thoughtful, knowledgeable committees, fail so completely?
Because humans, it turns out, are not logical. Scolding, informing and finger-wagging your way to behavior change has shown severe limitations.
So why do we keep doing it? And what actually works?
Vaping has exploded in popularity among U.S. teens, with an estimated 1.63 million middle schoolers and high schoolers using e-cigarettes, according to the CDC. Dozens of well funded anti-vaping campaigns have cropped up to combat the epidemic.
Research published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine recently looked at 46 anti-vaping campaigns across the U.S. and Canada, and what they found was not surprising to observers of behavior change marketing. Almost all the campaigns sought to inform their way to behavior change. And information alone often isn’t enough to change behavior.
“Although physical health is important and is viewed by youth as an important aspect of vaping prevention interventions, youth take up vaping for other reasons as well, including mental health, social identity, and curiosity, the latter of which may serve to override physical health.”
Why It Doesn’t Work
People who vape, or smoke cigarettes, or drink and drive, it turns out, are actually fairly aware of the risks. They don’t engage in these behaviors because they think they are risk-free. Telling them the activity is risky is something they already know. Campaigns that do this fall on deaf ears.
Unfortunately, marketing agencies and public safety organization boards can’t help themselves. These types of information-delivering campaigns just seem so logical that they have to work. Agencies and organizations still believe if they tell teens how bad vaping is they will stop.
Logic Doesn’t Rule Decision-Making
The science of behavior change is complex and evolving. Although it would be convenient to say in this blog that we know all the answers, that is just not true. However, there is quite a lot we do know.
Humans don’t make decisions by logic alone. We do things because we want to feel like we’re part of a tribe. We look at decisions other people make and follow them. We make decisions that affirm our identity or create new identities we desire. Oftentimes we do the opposite of what we are told, rejecting authority in favor of the approval of peers.
TAA is lucky to partner with Washington D.C.-based Marketing for Change on statewide campaigns, and their deep understanding of Behavioral Determinants has helped shape powerful campaigns that drive change.
So what does a campaign that doesn’t rely on logic look like?
The Iconic Campaign That Almost Never Was
Tapping into something beyond logic is a powerful method of behavior change. But to do that, organizations have to think less like marketers and more like meaning-makers.
Which brings me to a wildly influential that has stood up for decades, shaping behavior and being embraced by an entire state as a rallying cry.
Don’t Mess With Texas, one of the most iconic and effective campaigns in American marketing history, almost never happened.
Marketing agency GDS&M was developing an anti-litter campaign for the Texas Department of Transportation but was struggling to develop compelling concepts. On an early morning, agency creative Tim McClure started thinking about how he never heard people actually use the term “litter,” which led to a last-minute revelation to center the campaign around the much more relatable word “mess.”
The agency developed Don’t Mess with Texas, and presented it to the decision-making committee the Texas Department of Transportation had organized to decide on the campaign. The committee was not impressed. A faction of the committee urged the agency to use a “Keep Texas Beautiful” tagline. Another member asked the agency to begin the campaign with “Please.” In an unusual move, Don Clark, a state-level director, green-lit the “Don’t Mess with Texas” campaign over the objections of the committee. News coverage indicates that Clark showed up at work the next day unsure whether he would be fired.
The campaign launched with no CTA, no obvious state affiliation, just the big bold words “Don’t Mess with Texas” emphatically alone. It was a wild success immediately. The campaign tapped into the bravado, state pride and larger-than-life Texas attitude in a way that spurred state-wide adoption and nationwide attention. It also spoke directly to the campaign’s key demographic, 18 to 35-year-old men. 40 years later the campaign continues, having radically reduced littering while becoming so embedded in Texas culture that it is embraced as an unofficial state motto.
No “don’t litter” or “10 reasons why littering is bad for Texas” or “Keep Texas Beautiful” campaign could have ever accomplished even a small fraction of what “Don’t Mess with Texas” has done. And all because the right words, the right attitude, the right chords of bravado were struck in a way that didn’t look like marketing at all.
Rhyme, Enforcement, Simplicity
Of course, replicating the Texas pride bullseye of Don’t Mess With Texas isn’t easy. And it is not the only way to be effective in this space.
The Click It or Ticket seatbelt campaign is a much more straightforward and obvious campaign. The line itself is simple and memorable, using rhyme and rhythm to stick in motorists’ minds. But it is the campaign’s emphasis on enforcement that drives home the behavior change. The campaign makes buckling up simple and easy to remember, while presenting real, immediate consequences for not wearing a seatbelt.
This is a campaign that shows how less is more. Simplicity is valuable. And a commitment to enforcement, not just information alone, can drive change.
TAA Takes on Behavior
TAA is no stranger to behavior change campaigns. Our Locked Eyes Save Lives campaign asked pedestrians and motorists to do a very simple thing before stepping out into a crosswalk or when driving in pedestrian areas. The specificity of the request, its low commitment, and the memorability and simplicity of the campaign made it a huge success across Northern Nevada. Not to mention the guerilla marketing street team tactics that chalked the message on sidewalks in heavy pedestrian areas.
TAA’s Safe Voice work with the Nevada Department of Education relied on anonymity, frictionless reporting and a sense of safety to get students to report threats. The campaign delivered digital natives a way to report threats that felt natural and mirrored their existing digital habits.
Finally, we are wrapping up an exciting and powerful new campaign with the City of Reno entitled Finding the Light to combat the stigma around opioid addiction through story. The video-first storytelling campaign tells the story of struggle and triumph that many Northern Nevada families have experienced in some way, whether personally or through the lives of their friends and family. Stories are some of the most authentic ways to tell truths, share experiences and encourage participation. The campaign is paired with resources for families and individuals experiencing addiction.
The complexity of behavior change marketing requires thoughtful strategy, creativity and a commitment to simplicity in the final campaign. Delivering information is often not enough. Involving the audience in other ways by exploring identity, motivations, social environment and consequences in new ways will make behavior change marketing more effective.
Finally, thinking less like a marketer and more like a meaning maker, a peer, an honest storyteller, can pay off for organizations seeking to drive behavior change.
