Before a new product is introduced in the commercial marketplace, a first step taken by a company is to research the market environmental and to analyze factors that will affect the response of consumers toward the product. Behavior analysis is the study of environmental events, or determinants, that maintain or change behavior patterns. It offers systematic methods for observing and defining behaviors, for identifying behaviors that are conducive to change, and for initiating, encouraging, and maintaining behavior change. A person's response to any given situation is determined by a complex set of behavioral influences. Whether a new pattern of practice is easy or difficult to adopt, it may not be easy to accept.
Human behavior is often more complex than it initially appears.
One of the most significant contributions of behavior analysis has been to focus attention to the complexity and sequential nature of the behavior required of a target audience. It has also provided us with tools to break down practices into their component and observable parts, so that they can be more readily addressed in an instructional program. By breaking down health practices into these component parts, planners can gain a clearer idea of where along the chain of events to focus program messages most effectively. Behavior analysis helps to identify the positive consequences that follow adopting of a new behavior and suggests ways to either avoid or eliminate negative outcomes. It emphasizes that, while there are many means of shaping a new behavior pattern, positive consequences, or at least the avoidance of negative ones, are essential to its maintenance.