Are they likely to be in a specific emotional state when making the decision? ► Consider trying to the decision to a time when the individual is less likely to be influenced by unrelated emotions, or designing an intervention to mitigate adverse effects of an emotional state, e.g. inducing gratitude How are choices presented or viewed? How many options are available? ► Consider reducing the option set or reducing how many options are seen at once What is the default option if an individual decides to do nothing? ► Consider changing the default and having individuals opt-out. A less strong option is requiring a choice to be made for a process to continue Is one option more salient than another? More easily recognisable? Easier to choose or understand? ► Consider tailoring a given option to be more salient. Consider working to increase the recognisability of an option. Ensure options are easy to comprehend and think carefully about which is presented first Is one category of money being treated differently to another category of money? (mental accounting) ► Either consider trying to prompt the individual to move away from mental accounts, or to move towards them What information are they getting? What knowledge or expertise is needed to make a decision? ► Consider if the individual is provided with the information or assistance they need given their expertise How is information communicated to the individual (visually, verbally, in text)? ► Consider supplementing one form of communication (e.g. text) with another form (e.g. verbally) Does the information flow sequentially? What information is presented Presented last? ► The information presented first and last is most likely to be retained. Consider reorganising the information Are there numbers involved that may be more compelling if calculated differently? (e.g. Total expected annual or lifetime electricity cost instead of unit cost in $/MwH ) ► Consider reframing the numbers to be more accessible and memorable (e.g. on labelling) Who is delivering messages to them? Who is giving them advice or direction? ► Consider voice might be most effective - an authoritative voice, a trusted leader Is feedback available and is it received immediately? ► Consider ways to provide immediate feedback trial?
Change the question asked Can we change the default (what happens if no decision is made)? We have a strong tendency to go with the default or pre-set option, since it is easy to do so. Making an option the default (while providing an opt-out) makes it more likely to be adopted. Changes in defaults are generally best used when there are largely homogenous preferences and circumstances. Beware that default settings can signal recommendations by government, even if such recommendations are not suited to all people. Further, defaults can lead to a perceived reduction in the need to engage with a decision: e.g. a potential downside of mandatory super is that people may feel less need to engage in super planning because it is already done for them. Can we introduce a required choice or prompted choice? A required choice requires an individual to make a decision in order to continue with a given process or service (for example, most airlines force customers to say yes or no to travel insurance in order to book a ticket). A prompted choice merely asks that a choice be made. Required choices are generally more appropriate for high-stakes choices, when the highest level of consideration and engagement is most appropriate. Can we reduce the number of options available? Or presented at once? Choice overload can lead to procrastination, avoidance, dissatisfaction, reliance on imperfect heuristics, and potentially mistakes. Can we provide decision aids? When a choice is complicated, giving individuals access to tools or decision aids to facilitate the selection of the best option from a larger choice set can improve choice outcomes. For example, provide people with retirement income projection tools based on a given contribution rate to superannuation. Is framing a choice as a loss or a gain helpful? Loss aversion is the tendency to prefer avoiding losses to achieve equal-sized gains, relative to a reference point. In addition, people tend to be more risk-taking when they feel they have incurred or are about to incur losses. Sometimes just rewording a message can lead people to a different choice. Change the information being provided Can we provide new information? Sometimes information provision can be sufficient to influence behaviour. This is particularly the case when the information targets and corrects people’s false beliefs. Note