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1.5 Minutes on Influence: The Swimmer’s Body Illusion and Making Others Feel Important

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

I don’t know about you, but now that the summer holidays are around the corner, I become very aware of my physique. That’s why this week, I want to introduce you to the so-called Swimmer’s Body Illusion. And it might surprise you: it’s not just about looking lean and fit when you parade down the beach. It has everything to do with shaping choice and influencing behaviour.

The Swimmer’s Body Illusion is a nugget of wisdom from Nassim Taleb, author of The Black Swan. Once, he decided to shed the extra weight he had gained. He had always admired the physiques of swimmers, with their well-built and streamlined bodies. So, he thought it was simple: he would take up swimming.

However, he soon realized he had fallen for a misconception. Professional swimmers don’t have perfect physiques because they train extensively; rather, they are good swimmers because of their physiques. The appealing look of their bodies is a selection factor, not a result of their training.

So, how is this relevant when you are trying to influence choice and behaviour?

Well, as professionals, we often focus on results. Can we get clients to join us? Can we get people to act more sustainably? Can we get someone to take preventive care of their health? And so on. The challenge with many desired outcomes is that they lie in the distant future. As a result, we often try to influence future-oriented decisions. However, we frequently overlook the selection factors that influence these decisions.

Present bias is one of these factors—it’s the tendency to prioritise short-term gains over long-term success. But it’s not the only one. Other examples of factors are social norms, perceived risk, emotional triggers, ease of access, personal values and beliefs, or perceived control.

People tend to make choices based on immediate influences. That’s why our efforts in trying to convince people to do something for their future benefit often fail.

So, what can you do?

Instead of trying to convince someone of something that will benefit them in the future, focus on the underlying selection factors. Or, as we Behavioural Designers put it:

Create a context that naturally aligns with long-term benefits and helps people make better choices effortlessly right here and now.

For example, by designing default options that favour long-term well-being, leveraging social proof, ensuring convenient access to healthy choices, or addressing emotional triggers.

To conclude, next time you’re working on a behavioural intervention, remember Taleb’s Swimmer’s Body Illusion. Focus on the selection factors – the conditions and contexts that shape our choices and behaviours – rather than just the results. This shift can lead to more effective and sustainable behavioural change.

Until next time! Keep thinking about the factors and enjoy catching some of that vitamin D.

PS. And the next time you feel intimidated by an overly athletic swimmer, remember that they were probably born with that physique—no amount of training we could have done would have achieved it. What a relief!

Are you a forward-thinker?

We have translated the most groundbreaking insights from the psychology of influence into practical methods and tools. We teach these in our two-day Behavioural Design Fundamentals Course. You can download the brochure here NL and UK. The training is available in both Dutch and English, and can be tailored for teams. But it is especially suited for forward-thinkers.

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

The Importance of Importance

This week, I want to end with a powerful quote with you by business woman Mary Kay Ash, who at her death had a fortune of 98 million dollars:

“It’s so simple, yet makes such a difference. Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, ‘Make me feel important.‘”

Imagine the impact this could have on your interactions. Whether you’re talking to clients, colleagues, or friends, this mindset can transform your relationships. Acknowledging and valuing others makes them feel important and appreciated, which can lead to more meaningful connections and positive outcomes.

Give it a try this week—see how making others feel important can make a big difference in your professional and personal life.

Until next week,
Astrid Groenewegen

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1.5 Minutes on Influence: Increasing Your Chances Of Luck and The Proximity Principle.

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

Although I’m not a football fan myself, there’s no denying that the European Championships have started. Here in The Netherlands, everything turns bright orange (the colour of the royal family) and football fans are in full-on supporter mode.

Listening to some of these fans, I heard them say things like, “We just weren’t lucky” or “Luck wasn’t on our side tonight.”

This triggered an interesting insight about luck and chance that I’d like to share with you this week.

How does luck affect our decision-making, and is there a way to end a string of bad luck?

After all, besides football, in all aspects of our lives, we sometimes need the luck scale to tip in our favour.

When examining luck, we quickly see a human tendency: we are ultimate harmony seekers. We want good things to happen to good people and vice versa. To make sense of our world, we want things to be fair and honest. This creates a common belief that fortunes will eventually change or that a streak of bad luck will come to an end.

This also skews our decision-making: enter the gambler’s fallacy.

This fallacy was named from research in a Reno casino. Researchers found that gamblers who watched one spin of the wheel evenly divided their bets between red and black. However, as the wheel landed on red (or black) in consecutive spins, the betting changed significantly.

After five consecutive reds, 65 per cent of the bets were placed on black, and after six consecutive reds, 85 per cent of the bets were on black. Though the sixth spin of a roulette wheel is not influenced by the previous five spins, gamblers still placed their bets as if it was.

Just like a roulette ball doesn’t favour a colour, luck doesn’t favour a person. Bad luck is as random as a roulette ball. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, and good things to bad people.

At the same time, behavioural science suggests that luck plays a more significant role in success than we often acknowledge. So, is there something you can do to maximise your luck? Fortunately, there is!

Recent research suggests that luck is not just about preparation but even more about perseverance.

You need to put yourself in as many situations as possible to increase your chances of getting lucky, thereby accepting or even embracing the randomness of life. By continuously putting yourself out there, learning from each experience, and never giving up, you create a greater statistical chance for luck to find you.

I wish you lots of good luck, and if luck reaches you, you now know how random it is, and you can feel extra lucky.

Are you a forward-thinker?

We have translated the most groundbreaking insights from the psychology of influence into practical methods and tools. We teach these in our two-day Behavioural Design Fundamentals Course. You can download the brochure here NL and UK. The training is available in both Dutch and English, and can be tailored for teams. But it is especially suited for forward-thinkers.

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

The Proximity Principle

At SUE, we have a vibrant community of alumni who have completed our training programs. We regularly share examples, questions, and lessons learned. Just yesterday, a discussion started about an insurance company and some brands providing free sunscreen at places where it’s needed, like the beach, festivals, and recreational areas.

This is a fantastic example of making it easier for people to adopt the desired behaviour. If you want to change someone’s behaviour, a CAN intervention (making sure people can actually engage in the desired behaviour) is very effective.

CAN interventions align with how our brains work: we’re always looking to minimize cognitive effort. Making things easy does just that.

In this case, it’s the CAN intervention of Proximity: Can we bring the desired behaviour closer to people? Judging by the responses in the discussion, it works. People mentioned using the free sunscreen at various locations.

It highlights another point I often make: people usually want to do the right thing but simply forget.

We want to protect ourselves from sunburn, but we often forget to bring sunscreen. By providing it at this Moment That Matters, sunscreen producers and insurance companies add value for both people and brands.

Until next week,
Astrid Groenewegen

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1.5 Minutes on Influence: How To Boost Your Happiness and Perfect Your Pricing

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

For a few years now, I’ve been fascinated by the idea that behavioural psychology might hold the key to something most of us crave: more happiness.

Although, I have to admit I recently came across a rather disheartening quote: “Trying to be happier is as futile as trying to be taller.”

But I chose to ignore that and dig a bit deeper into what science has to say on the matter. I found some interesting insights that I’d like to share with you today.

After doing my research, I actually think the quote is partly right, but it’s because of the word “be.” You can’t just suddenly “be” happy. It’s like when you’re about to give an important presentation, feeling terribly nervous, and someone tells you, “Just don’t be nervous.” If only life were that simple!

So, are we lost in our endless search for happiness? Because let’s face it, we are looking for it. I typed “happiness” into the book section of Amazon.com and found over 60,000 self-help books on the topic.

The answer is no, we’re not lost. We just have to do more than read a book and wish for happiness.

We need to engage in behaviours that boost our baseline happiness. To understand which behaviours might help, I found some valuable research.

A quick disclaimer: I don’t claim to have all the answers on how to increase your happiness. There’s no one-size-fits-all-in-every-situation solution. But I do believe in experimenting with what research suggests to see what works for me (or not).

One behaviour I’ve been practising lately that has really boosted my mood is savouring.

What is savouring?

In behavioural psychology, savouring means intentionally making good experiences last longer and feel more intense. It involves paying close attention to and enjoying the present moment or a happy memory to fully feel joy, contentment, or satisfaction.

To make it practical, try to really savour an experience, memory, or something you’re seeing or hearing every day. For instance, I like to closely examine all the details in architecture or something in nature. Spend some time on it, at least five minutes. Let it really sink in. Try doing this for a week or two and see how it affects your mood.

Give it a go, and you might find that it makes a difference in how you feel.

Are you a forward-thinker?

We have translated the most groundbreaking insights from the psychology of influence into practical methods and tools. We teach these in our two-day Behavioural Design Fundamentals Course. You can download the brochure here NL and UK. The training is available in both Dutch and English, and can be tailored for teams. But it is especially suited for forward-thinkers.

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

If The Price Is Right..

In this week’s 0.5 minute, I want to talk about pricing. As you can imagine, pricing can be a powerful driver for sustainable growth without needing to change your product or service.

The key insight for optimising your pricing is understanding your customers’ willingness to pay. There are many ways to conduct a pricing study, but I came across the Van Westendorp method, which I love for its simplicity. It involves asking your potential customers four questions:

1. At what price would you start to question this product’s quality because it’s too low?
2. At what price does this product seem like a bargain?
3. At what price does this product feel expensive but not too expensive?
4. At what price is this product too expensive?

One criticism of this method is that it suffers from hypothetical bias. This means people might say they’ll do something in a survey, but in real life, they might not actually do it. Simply put, when you ask these questions, potential buyers don’t have anything at stake—they don’t actually have to spend money on your product.

However, considering that over 50% of companies have never even done one pricing study, this represents a significant growth opportunity that many are missing out on. And as you know: In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Until next week,
Astrid Groenewegen

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1.5 Minutes on Influence: How To Beat Procrastination and Avoid Manipulation

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

This week, I’m working on creating the SUE Behavioural Design Academy’s self-paced courses (news flash!). However, as you might know or have experienced yourself, many online courses are started but not finished, or they’re completed but not applied. It’s a matter of professional pride for me to ensure they are infused with Behavioural Design to prevent this.

One of the main reasons we start things and don’t finish them is procrastination. Procrastination doesn’t just happen when taking a course; it pops up in all behaviours that require action and dedication. I thought it might be useful to share some insights from behavioural science to help you beat procrastination.

I remember my uncle had a little sign on his wall saying, ‘Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow‘. As a child, this baffled me. But as an adult, I sometimes couldn’t agree more. This is what procrastination is all about — our human tendency to delay taking action.

Before I offer some practical tips, let me start by saying that putting things off is a well-known and common human tendency.

One explanation in behavioural science is called present bias, which means we prefer immediate rewards over future benefits. So, going out with friends right now seems more appealing than flaunting a course certificate in a few weeks, or saving for your pension, losing weight, investing in sustainability, etc.

Another reason is that we simply forget. It sounds trivial, but it’s true. So, if you want to design behaviour, you need to take humans as your starting point — humans who have work, a private life, and probably many to-dos already. And because of that, humans need help staying on track.

So, what tips does the psychology of influence offer to beat procrastination?

1.     Create a Commitment Device
If you commit to something in writing or publicly, you’re much more likely to follow through. Your brain loves consistency, and if you commit, it feels logical to continue. This helps resist temptation.

A Behavioural Intervention: Tell someone what you plan to achieve, and make the behaviour you commit to very specific. Even better, have that same person hold you accountable. If you don’t have that special person, just write down your commitment for yourself.

2.     Set Deadlines
As common as they may seem, deadlines work primarily because they create a sense of urgency. They also help us plan and organise our time better by providing clear landmarks. Did you know that we often underestimate the time required to complete tasks? Deadlines force us to plan more realistically and allocate sufficient time to meet our goals.

A Behavioural Intervention: Set weekly deadlines for yourself. Even better, put something at stake if you don’t meet your deadline. We dislike losing a lot and go to lengths to avoid it (loss aversion), which again helps you commit to the behaviour.

3.    Activate Reminders
When I was writing my book ‘The Art of Designing Behaviour,’ I hoped to find a behavioural intervention that was both extremely powerful and somewhat undiscovered, like discovering a new species of bird deep in the Amazon. I didn’t find an exotic new intervention, but I did discover something well-known yet incredibly powerful: the reminder! Often, we want to do something but simply forget. Life happens.

A Behavioural Intervention: It helps to put weekly reminders in your schedule to perform the behaviour you committed to. In fact, do it now. There’s no time like the present.

I hope this has been helpful. Please let me know if you’d like more insights and tips on how to complete what you start. Based on your feedback, I’ll cover these topics in one of my upcoming newsletters.

Are you a forward-thinker?

We have translated the most groundbreaking insights from the psychology of influence into practical methods and tools. We teach these in our two-day Behavioural Design Fundamentals Course. You can download the brochure here NL and UK. The training is available in both Dutch and English, and can be tailored for teams. But it is especially suited for forward-thinkers.

Want to read my book in Dutch? It is called ‘De Kunst van Gedrag Ontwerpen’ and can be ordered here.

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

My Most Frequently Asked Question: Are You In The Manipulation Business?

Rightfully, many people ask me whether Behavioural Design is about positive influence or manipulation.

For me, it all comes down to the intent behind its use. If you’re using the power of behavioural science solely for your own benefit, then it’s manipulation. But if you use it to help people make better decisions that improve their private lives, work lives, or environments, then to me, that’s positive influence.

And here’s the thing—a small epiphany I had. I realized that many behaviours that are good for us are actually quite challenging. Saving money, eating healthily, filling in forms, arranging a mortgage, getting fit—all these tasks can be difficult to start and continue. So, when behaviour is easy, you often don’t need Behavioural Design. But it can be of great value when things are tough for people.

This has become an important criterion for me: assessing whether people need help making better decisions or engaging in positive behaviours. If not, there’s maybe no need to apply Behavioural Design. However, where there is a genuine need to start and support positive actions, that’s when Behavioural Design truly shows its worth.

At SUE, we place great importance on Behavioural Design Ethics. Sometimes, determining what is better or more positive isn’t as straightforward as we might wish. The key is to ask the right questions at the right time. That’s why we’ve developed a Behavioural Ethics Toolkit. It’s designed to help you evaluate at every stage of a project whether your interventions are having a positive impact and who benefits (or who is harmed from them). It’s not perfect yet, but we’ll keep optimising it as we reflect and learn. The toolkit is available for everyone to download free of charge. You can access it here.

Until next week,
Astrid Groenewegen

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1.5 Minutes on Influence: Unleash the Power of Identity Framing and Selling Just About Anything,

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

Until next week,

Astrid Groenewegen

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1.5 Minutes on Influence: What We Can Learn from TikTok to Kick Negative Habits and Getting Things Done,

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

I  have to confess that I was a bit hesitant to write about this topic. This one-minute insight is about excessive use of mobile phones. I try to live life with a non-judgmental mindset, and I find it somewhat patronizing to have an opinion on how people spend their time.

After all, who am I to judge?

But then I came across a study that made me decide to write about this after all: it turned out to be not just a problem I noticed, but one that users experience themselves.

Even more importantly, it  led me to a more profound insight that goes beyond phone use, which I think could be of value to you.

Let’s start with the study. It revealed that a staggering 60% of Instagram users wish Instagram had never been invented, and 57% of TikTok users feel the same about TikTok. These aren’t just any opinions; these are from actual users, of whom there are currently 3.5 billion! So, we do have a massive problem on our hands.

What’s happening here from a behavioural psychology perspective?

The answer lies in the social norm. If all your friends are on these platforms, liking, sharing, tagging, and discovering, and you are not, you are in the out-group. And if there’s one thing we humans dislike, it is being left out. It’s hardwired in our brains that our survival rates are higher in groups. So, we tend to do what others are doing, even if it means holding each other trapped against our will.

And from this comes an important insight. Often, behavioural interventions are directed at the individual, but more and more of today’s challenges call for collective interventions. Only then can we counteract the powerful force of social belonging.

In Behavioural Design, we either make the desired behaviour easier, or the undesired behaviour harder. In another article I read, it mentioned the latter as a collective intervention: schools taking away phones from kids or using special phone sleeves that block all digital connections.

The result? Yes, some kids were not happy initially. But it was a collective intervention, and after a week or two, the kids themselves claimed to feel relieved. And some very positive new behaviours arose: kids started talking to each other more, playing together again, and cyberbullying decreased.

But what we can take away from this, beyond phone usage, is that we need to recognize that many of today’s challenges are deeply social and need solutions that involve everyone. Many attempts to solve these challenges fail because we often view them only from an individual perspective.

If you’ve ever tried deleting a social media app and found yourself back at it again after a few weeks, I hope you can now see that this was because it was an individual intervention. Your unconscious brain is longing for belonging.

Instead of focusing on personal solutions, we should therefore begin to see more issues as collective problems that require collective answers. In summary, this is a plea for giving more attention to system interventions.

Understanding the psychological barriers that keep groups stuck in certain behaviours might be the key to changing behaviours on a larger scale. Not just because we want to, but because people themselves are asking for change.

Did You Know

We have translated the most groundbreaking insights from the psychology of influence into practical methods and tools. We teach these in our two-day Behavioural Design Fundamentals Course. You can download the brochure here NL and UK. The training is available in both Dutch and English, and can be tailored for teams.

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

Prioritsation beats efficiency

Have you ever heard of the smaller task trap? Even if you haven’t, you probably have experienced it. When faced with multiple tasks, we tend to start with the easier one first. It sounds logical and maybe even motivating to get a first task out of the way, but we as humans are easily distracted and procrastination leads to cancellation. Hence, the trap.

Other research has revealed that if you ask people to do a large number of tasks, they tend to do less than when chunking the tasks.

So, what can we learn from this? One very effective way to get things done is to prioritize rather than simply trying to be more efficient. Each day, select three tasks that you aim to complete.

A commonly used strategy for selecting your priorities is the value/effort matrix. Tasks that are high value and low effort can be quick wins, while high value, high effort tasks can deliver significant strategic value. As for low value tasks, you can likely ignore them for now. This approach keeps your workload manageable, helps you focus, and prevents you from getting stuck in the smaller task trap.

Want to share this week’s newsletter on your website, on social media or email? Just copy and paste this link:  https://suebehaviouraldesign.com/breaking-habits-get-things-done/

Until next week,

Astrid Groenewegen

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1.5 Minutes on Influence: The Key to Lasting Behaviour Change and Rethinking Value

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

As some of you know from last week’s newsletter, I’m on holiday, and it made me remember an insight I wanted to share about maintaining desired behaviours. I’ll illustrate this with a challenge we worked on for diabetic patients.

Let me begin by stating that not all behaviours are the same. Broadly speaking, we can distinguish between two types: one-off behaviours, like signing up for a pension plan, and continuous behaviours, like taking medication or exercising.

That second type of behaviour can be particularly challenging. We often intend to maintain certain behaviours but struggle to follow through. This isn’t because we’re weak; it’s because we’re human, and life gets in the way. No one wants to be unhealthy, face financial problems, live in a polluted environment, be glued to their phone, or worry endlessly about the future. But sometimes, we simply don’t or can’t take the steps needed to prevent this.

Returning to the work for diabetic patients, it highlighted one of the most crucial aspects for successful and lasting behavioural change: Moments.

Moments might seem trivial, but there’s more to them than meets the eye. It’s about recognising the difference between a customer journey and a human journey.

You probably know that diabetic patients must follow a strict diet to keep their insulin levels stable. However, this doesn’t always go as planned. From a customer journey perspective, a doctor is a vital touchpoint for providing patients with guidance on what to do and what to avoid. However, our client indicated that health care professionals were very frustrated that patients didn’t always follow up on this advice.

We mapped out the human journey and discovered a critical moment when patients often break their routines: the holidays. Like everyone else, diabetic patients want to enjoy their time off and life’s pleasures without worry. Understandably, this is when sticking to their diet becomes the hardest.

In moments like these, they don’t need their doctor’s information; they need support, particularly from others facing the same challenges. That’s why we created a community for diabetic patients, enabling them to connect with other patients during their holidays and help each other through those difficult times.

The key insight I want to share with you is that by adopting a human journey perspective and stepping into the person’s shoes, rather than focusing solely on your product or service, you’ll uncover new moments that reveal genuine human needs. This will help you develop more relevant solutions.

This leads to the second insight I’d like to share. We often focus on positive moments for people. However, the real key to helping people maintain their behaviour is to support them when times get tough.

These are the crucial “Moments that Matter”—the moments when life gets in the way, and someone struggles to hold on. That’s when you can truly make a difference.

In conclusion, there’s a difference between a customer journey and a human journey. The customer journey maps out all the touchpoints users have with a product or service, while the human journey encompasses all the moments when a person—a human navigating life’s challenges—consciously or unconsciously decides to act or not. It also includes when they struggle to maintain their behaviour, even if they wish to.

By considering human journeys and Moments that Matter, you can connect more deeply with your target audience. Moreover, this approach opens up a world of opportunities to develop solutions and innovations that are genuinely customer-centric.

Interested in understanding the psychological forces that drive behaviour and discovering a method for creating behavioural interventions that lead to better decisions and desired behaviours? Join our two-day Fundamentals Course! You can download the brochure here NL and UK. The training is available in both Dutch and English, and can be tailored for individuals or teams.

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

Rethinking Value

I came across this experiment by  that illustrates how rethinking value can yield surprising results. She divided her class into groups and issued a challenge:

Each group was given $5 and 2 hours to make the highest return on the money.

At the end, they had to give a short presentation on their strategy. The winning group thought differently and achieved an unexpected outcome.

They made three key observations:

1. The $5 was a distraction.
2. Two hours wasn’t enough time to generate a significant return with a small business.
3. The most valuable “asset” was actually the presentation time in front of a class of Stanford students.

Recognising the value of this hidden asset, they offered the presentation time to companies seeking to recruit Stanford students. They sold the slot for $650, a substantial return on the initial $5.

Want to share this week’s newsletter on your website, on social media or email? Just copy and paste this link: https://suebehaviouraldesign.com/sticky-behaviour-rethinking-value/

Until next week,

Astrid Groenewegen

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1.5 Minutes on Influence: The Effect of Heat on Behaviour and Why Skills Are Sometimes Overrated

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

I’m writing this in southern Vietnam, where it’s a sweltering 34°C (93.2°F). I can’t complain, but it’s made me think about how heat affects our decision-making and behaviour. Truth be told, I feel like my brain is operating in slow motion. But what does science have to say about this?

Is there a link between heat and behaviour?

If you’ve ever snapped at someone during a heatwave or felt more irritable, you’re not alone. Heat does indeed affect our behaviour. I’ve found research that describes the “heat hypothesis”. The studies reveal that heat can intensify anger, aggression, and even lead to violence., which explains why crime peaks in summer.

In other words, when the heat is on, we tend to act more heated ourselves. Not only do we snap as people, but we also make snap judgments and decisions.

This could be why “overheated” discussions don’t have a positive reputation.

So, what can we do?

The most logical answer is to try and stay cool. And secondly. It helps to do some self-observation Be more attentive to your mental boiling point. If you start to notice yourself becoming more irritable, it’s time to cool down. You know the saying: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

Thirdly, anger management is key. If you feel anger rising, try to refocus your attention on something positive. Behavioural science has taught us that where our focus is, our attention goes, along with the feelings that follow.

Lastly, behaviour doesn’t occur in isolation; it’s influenced by our surroundings. It’s important to understand what triggers your anger most and avoid those situations. For example, I can’t tolerate people who eat noisily, so I consciously steer clear of them.

I leave you with a question. As the planet warms, ACs may put too much strain on the energy grid, and people may become more irritable during the heat. Perhaps we need innovative ideas to keep our heads cool in the future.

The cold turns out to be fuel for innovation.

And positive side-effect? We don’t need to complain about cold weather anymore—how is that for a positive spin!

I’m going for a dip in the pool now. I’ll send you some moderate warmth from here!

Further reading:

Temperature and aggression: ubiquitous effects of heat on occurrence of human violence. Psychological Bulletin.
Homicide in São Paulo, Brazil: Assessing spatial-temporal and weather variations. Journal of Environmental Psychology.
Temperature and mental health: Evidence from the spectrum of mental health outcomes. Journal of Health Economics.

Interested in understanding the psychological forces that drive behaviour and discovering a method for creating behavioural interventions that lead to better decisions and desired behaviours? Join our two-day Fundamentals Course! You can download the brochure here NL and UK. The training is available in both Dutch and English, and can be tailored for individuals or teams.

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

Why Skills Are Sometimes Overrated

I listened to a fascinating podcast that touched upon the difference between skills and behaviour, which is especially insightful if you’re in a leadership role. The author argued that we tend to give more leeway to performance, but not to behaviour, as

Behaviour is a choice, not a skill.

As a new leader, everyone is watching not just what you do, but what you don’t do. If you fail to address issues that everyone else can see, your leadership reputation is already in jeopardy, as people might perceive you as oblivious, indecisive, or overly tolerant of poor behaviour.

This perspective is interesting in three ways. First, we might want to reconsider placing such heavy emphasis on skill assessment in hiring. Performance-based interview techniques that focus on past behaviour have long been used in the military, where people’s actions can have life-or-death consequences. However, we could all benefit from this approach to improve our hiring decisions.

Second, this insight isn’t just useful for leaders; it’s relevant for anyone within an organisation. In practice, people judge you by your actions, not by your CV.

And finally, on an organisational level, this is a vital insight as so much time and effort goes into building thriving company cultures, but ultimately, I believe a company’s culture is the sum of the behaviours of its people, particularly those when no one is watching.

Food for thought and more Behavioural Design!

Want to share this week’s newsletter on your website, on social media or email? Just copy and paste this link: https://suebehaviouraldesign.com/heat-and-skills-vs-behaviour/

Until next week,

Astrid Groenewegen

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1.5 Minutes on Influence: Boosting Your Professional Impact and Getting Kids to Eat Veggies

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

Last week, I found a large dent in the driver’s side door of my car. I hadn’t even been in the car, so I can assure you it wasn’t my doing. I consider myself a decent driver, until I came across a study that made me question that self-assessment.

It talked about drivers’ perceptions of their own abilities. The study revealed some amusing yet insightful contrasts: when asked how many people are good drivers, participants said only 5%. Yet, when rating themselves, 50% believed they were good drivers. This phenomenon is known as overconfidence bias, where we tend to overrate our own abilities in completing tasks.

We as humans all have some hard-wired beliefs that affect our perceptions, evaluations, and judgments. This brings me to an important point I want to discuss.

Lately, I think we’ve been overly focused on behaviour.

This might sound odd coming from someone who founded SUE Behavioural Design, but it’s a crucial insight. Groundbreaking work in behavioural sciences, like that recognized by the Nobel Prize, were not predominantly on behaviour but gave us insights on how we as humans come to decisions. And yes, the outcome of these decisions can absolutely be behaviour.

But it could also very well be that the outcome is that we decide to change our minds, shift our beliefs, or see things in a new light. Which is also a very important outcome, vital for buy-in, cooperation, or maintaining good reputations.

Sometimes, understanding the root of someone’s strong beliefs is more important than trying to change their behaviour. If they have entrenched beliefs, introducing new behaviours might be futile.

By grasping how decisions are made, we can see why people sometimes make illogical choices. This not only helps explain why your partner insists they are a great driver (when you know the truth might be different), but also addresses larger issues, like why people fail to save for retirement, exercise, or recycle.

For example, optimism bias leads us to underestimate the likelihood of negative outcomes and overestimate positive ones. Believing that the future will be better can deter immediate action. Most solutions don’t consider this bias, but if we do, we can design interventions to help people overcome it.

I am a firm believer that insight into decision-making is the most critical wisdom that behavioural sciences can offer.

The ability to understand and influence decisions is key to success for every professional, not just for behavioural experts or behaviour units.

Recognizing and harnessing this skill will add a missing layer to your expertise and make you a more impactful professional as you gain better control over outcomes.

 PS. I really didn’t dent the car, Scout’s honor!

Further reading:

Study on driver’s overconfidence
Optimism Bias

We offer two one-day team workshops, available in both English and Dutch, that focus on understanding biases affecting decision-making and exploring strategies to counteract them. One workshop, ‘Biases in Marketing,’ delves into marketing-specific biases. The other, ‘13 Biases in the Boardroom,’ addresses biases encountered in executive settings. Contact us (NL or EN) if you would like some more information or book the workshop(s).

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

Do you have kids and have you ever heard yourself say, ‘If you don’t eat your vegetables, you don’t get dessert‘?

Well, did you know there’s a more effective way to get your kids to eat fruit and vegetables? German researchers have found that extending family meals by approximately 10 minutes can help. When families spent more time at the table, children took seven additional bites of fruits and vegetables.

So, perhaps the key to healthier eating habits for children is about spending more quality time together at meals. Next time, consider lingering a little longer at the dinner table; it might just make a world of difference for your child’s diet.

Want to share this week’s newsletter on your website, on social media or email? Just copy and paste this link: https://suebehaviouraldesign.com/professional-impact-kids-veggies/

Until next week,

Astrid Groenewegen

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.