On average, we’re exposed to thousands of adverts each day. We are constantly bombarded with messages that aim to get us to spend our well earned money. Be it the latest clothes, fast food or your next family holiday, these messages follow us everywhere thanks to the power of tech. But to influence behaviour, you need to do more than just expose people to your messages…you need to give it some “umph!”
Priming can do just that. Priming is a by-product of subconscious cues that affect how we behave. We see this being used in the commercial sector quite widely. Subtle cues used in advertising aim to connect with us subconsciously by making us feel happy, sad and anything in between. Thompson’s logo is a good example of priming. It looks like a smiling face – this is made more prominent in adverts when the logo is overlaid onto a stuffed animal. We associate happiness with this brand.
In another example, a study tested the impact of priming on two different groups of people. Each group was given a list of words. One of the groups received a list that included words associated with old age (such as wrinkles) while the other group received a list of words that did not include words associated with old age. After each group read the words, both groups were observed whilst walking to the lifts. Interestingly, the group that received the old age associated words walked slower than the other group.
Another study used a similar approach to test the impact priming has on physical activity. A group was provided with a list of words associated with fitness and physical activity (such as fit, lean and athletic) while the other group did not receive any fitness related words. The researchers found that if people read words associated with fitness they were more likely to take the stairs rather than the lift.
So how can you use priming to facilitate positive behaviour change? Let’s take excessive alcohol as an example. It’s easy for people to order a large glass of wine or a pint of strong lager. But making subtle changes in the environment, we can help people to opt for a smaller glass or different product. One of the ways to tackle this issue can involve not having the option for large glass of wine at the local pub and promoting small glasses of wine, giving people a jug of water at a table can also help towards priming their behaviour by creating an association between drinking alcohol and drinking water and we can present messages about feeling better drinking less alcohol - reminding people of how it feels to be hungover. The more people are exposed to these subtle cues, the stronger the automatic association becomes.
By using different techniques for exposure, be it something in the physical environment (such as the above example), music (e.g. happy music in fast food restaurants), visual (imagery that evokes emotion) you are able to strengthen the message you want to get across to your target audience. In a study of men exiting bars and nightclubs, music that was softer and slower made them behave better than music that was loud and fast.
If you have an upcoming social marketing project and would like to speak to us about how you can use priming to facilitate behaviour change, contact a member of the team today.
