This presentation was part of a Week 0 class called "How Neuroscience Influences Human Behavior" at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. The class was co-taught by Marketing Professor Baba Shiv and Nir Eyal (Stanford MBA '08, blog: http://www.nirandfar.com)
On National Teacher Day, meet the 2024-25 Kenan Fellows
Using Neuroscience to Influence Behavior
1. USING
NEUROSCIENCE
TO INFLUENCE
HUMAN BEHAVIOR
“Come on now,
who do you think
you are?
Bless your soul,
you really think
you’re in control?”
- Gnarls Barkley
3. Assignments
• Today - Time provided to meet with team, discuss and post
to Coursework
• Tuesday - Meet with team after class to build Desire Engine
for group assignment.
• Wednesday - Work on team and individual assignments.
• Thursday - Time provided to meet with team, discuss and
post to Coursework
• Friday - Presentations. Present individual assignment (5 min
each) or group assignment (15-20 min) (but only if entire
team agrees)
5. One brain, two minds
• Elephant =
impulsive mind
• Rider = Rational
mind
• Path = the
environment
Willpower is the strength of the rider
6. Where the elephant lives
• “Primitive” parts of brain
• Basal ganglia
• Storage of instinctual
habitual behaviors
• Nucleus accumbens
• Center of reward system
• Wants immediate
gratification / satiation
7. Where the rider lives
• “Newest” part of brain
• Pre-frontal cortex (PFC)
• Executive function
• Controls impulses and
higher level thinking
8. Think of your behaviors
• What are the routines, habits, skills,
addictions in one’s life?
9. Amateur behaviors
Amateur
Do
Resist
doing
Low High
Self-Control Required
10. What defines amateur
behaviors?
• The rider and elephant are in sync
• Easy to do, but also easy to forget
• Reward, process motivated, “for the love”
• Long-term
29. What defines addictive
behaviors?
• The rider has lost control and the elephant
is charging
• Self-destructive
• Extremely hard to resist
30. Resisting addictive
behaviors
• Reigning in the elephant
• Abstinence, removal of cues
• Physical detoxification
• Social support
• Root cause analysis
31. Behavior types
Amateur Skillful
Do
Habitual Addictive
Resist
doing
Low High
Self-Control Required
34. Change methods
Create Train the
Do rider to push
the path
the elephant
Train the
Resist Reign the
rider to pull
doing elephant
the elephant
Low High
Self-Control Required
35. Does the method
match the type?
• “No pain, no gain”
• “Never quit”
• “Set strict goals”
• “Hold yourself
accountable”
36. Healthy lifestyle
• Over a lifetime
• Do (amateur behaviors):
• Physical activity
• Eating healthy foods
• Resist doing (habitual behaviors):
• Eating unhealthy foods
• Overconsumption
37. Beating yourself up hurts
• The worse a drinker feels about how much they drank the
night before, the more they drank the next night. (Muraven et al
2005)
• Gamblers who feel most ashamed by losses, most likely to
“chase” the loss and keep gambling. (Yi and Kanatar 201)
• Students who feel the worst about procrastinating, put off
studying the longest for next exam. (Wohl, Pychyl, Bennett
2010)
• Addicts who feel most guilt about a minor relapse, were most
likely to have a major relapse. (Stephens et al 1994)
Source: Kelly McDonigal, “The Willpower Instinct”
38. The “what-the-hell” effect
• Dieters and non-dieters
asked to drink a milkshake
as part of “taste perception
study”
• Then asked to sample as
much ice cream as “needed”
for taste test.
• Dieters ate more than non-
dieters after drinking the
milkshake
• Showed increased activity in
nucleus accumbens
Source: Kelly McDonigal, “The Willpower Instinct”, Heatherton & Wagner, 2011
39.
40. One size does not fit all
Amateur Skillful
- Goal driven
- Path driven
Do - Long-term
- Grit
- Hard work
- Self-directed
- Coaching
Habitual Addictive
Resist - Abstinence
- Surfing urge
- Physical detox
doing - Mindfulness
- Root cause
- Self-compassion
- Social support
Low High
Self-Control Required
41. In summary
• Rider, elephant and path
• Before changing a behavior:
• Identify behavior type
• Match with appropriate change method
42. Take a break
and a survey
www.OpinionTo.us
(and take your stuff)
45. Persuasive products
Amateur Skillful
Do
Habitual Addictive
Resist
doing
Low High
Self-Control Required
46. pref· er· ence
/ˈpref(ə)rəns/
Noun, Def:
A greater liking for one alternative over
another or others.
47. be· hav· ior
/biˈhāvyər/
Noun, Def:
The way in which an animal or person acts
in response to a particular situation or
stimulus.
48. rou· tine
/ro͞oˈtēn/
Noun, Def:
A sequence of actions regularly followed; a
fixed program.
49. hab· it
/ˈhabit/
Noun, Def:
An behavior that has become nearly or
completely involuntary, without cognition.
50. ad· dic· tion
/əˈdikSHən/
Noun, Def:
A persistent, compulsive dependence on a
behavior or substance.
51. Are customer habits
good for business?
• Higher life-time value
• Greater price inelasticity, can charge more
• Word-of-mouth brings down cost of
acquisition
= Higher ROI
52. Why is this graph “smiling”?
Source: Inc. magazine, Dec. 2011
56. Au· to· ma· ta· city
Noun, Def:
The ability to do things without occupying
the mind with low-level details, allowing it
to become an automatic response pattern.
57. What is automaticity
good for?
• Ability to learn
• Helps us decide
• Saves energy
• Allows multitasking
58. Impairment of habit system
• Trouble performing tasks requiring multi-
step behaviors or where emotion is
deciding factor.
• With “elephant” out, the “rider” tries but
fails.
• Making simple decisions. (which pen?)
• Ignoring insignificant details. (reading
faces)
• Inability to act quickly “from the gut.”
Source: Antonio Demasio via Lehrer "How We Decide"
59. Decision fatigue
• “Rider” gets tired and lazy because decision
making requires effort.
• Prisoners appearing for parole hearings early
in the morning granted parole 70% of the
time.
• However, those appearing late in the day,
when judges were more tired, paroled less
than 10% of the time.
• So, making more decisions through habit
instead of logic, can leave more
resources for important decisions
Source: Levav and Danziger, 2011
65. Remember: A TARI
A - A Desire Engine has 4 parts:
T - Trigger
A - Action
R - Reward
I - Investment
66. In summary
• Habits can be good for business.
• Habits require automaticity - action
without cognition.
• Leaves us with more “decision making
reserve.”
• Creating automaticity is a function of utility
and frequency.
• Frequency from creating desire.
69. Where are you sitting?
• Who is sitting where they sat
before break?
• Why did you sit there?
• What told you to sit?
• Where did you learn this
behavior?
70. Triggers
External Internal
Alarms Emotions
Calls-to-action Routines
Emails Situations
Stores Places
Authority People
What to do next What to do next is in
is in the trigger the user’s head
71.
72.
73. Triggers
External Internal
Alarms
Emotions
Advertising
Routines
Calls-to-action
Situations
Emails
Places
Stores
People
Authority
What to do next What to do next is in
is in the trigger the user’s head
74. Negative emotions are
powerful internal triggers
Dissatisfied Fear of loss
Indecisive Bored
Lost Lonesome
Tense Confused
Fatigued Powerless
Inferior Discouraged
75. Internally triggered
technologies
When I feel... ... I use
Lonely Facebook
Hungry Yelp
Unsure Google
Anxious Email
Lost GPS
Mentally fatigued ESPN, Glam
77. People with depression
check email more.
Source: Kotikalapudi et al 2012,
Associating Depressive Symptoms in College Students with Internet Usage Using Real Internet Data
79. To find the problem,
know the narrative
• Need to find the existing behavior to
attach to.
• Find the behavior that occurs just
before.
• “Every time you (verb), use (product).”
80. Jack Dorsey
on narratives
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acMXhhdWylQ
82. Instagram triggers
External Internal
- FB and Twitter - Fear of loosing
- App notifications the moment
.
.
.
- Bored, lonesome,
curious...
83. Your turn
• Pick an “amateur” behavior you’d like to
turn into a new routine in your life.
• Brainstorm with the person next to you for
5 min each about potential triggers.
• Describe the narrative of both external and
internal triggers.
• Write this down and be prepared to share.
84. Form teams and complete Coursework assignment
(see syllabus)
Debrief with team:
- What resonated with you?
- What stimulated new thinking?
- Ideas for personal and professional growth?
- Ideas for new ventures?
- What intrigued you, either by creating new questions
or by kindling a quest for more?
30 min discussion
15 min post to Coursework
85. Triggers
External Internal
Alarms Emotions
Calls-to-action Routines
Emails Situations
Stores Places
Authority People
What to do next What to do next is in
is in the trigger the user’s head
86. Pharma triggers
External Internal
What to do next What to do next is in
is in the trigger the user’s head
(Designer controls)
89. Fogg Behavior Model
B = m.a.t.
motivation
triggers
Source: Dr. BJ Fogg, Stanford University ability
90. Fogg Behavior Model
B = m.a.t.
trigger
motivation
(SUCCESS!)
trigger
(FAIL!)
Source: Dr. BJ Fogg, Stanford University ability
91. mo· ti· va· tion
/mōtə vāSHən/
Noun, Def:
The psychological feature that arouses an
organism to action toward a desired goal.
92. Motivators of
Behavior
Seek: Avoid:
Sensation Pleasure Pain
Anticipation Hope Fear
motivation
Social Cohesion Acceptance Rejection
Source: Dr. BJ Fogg, Stanford University
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98. a· bil· i· ty
/əˈbilitē/
Noun, Def:
The capacity to do something
99. How increase
capacity to do
something?
Source: Dr. BJ Fogg, Stanford University ability
100. Factors of ability
Time
Money
Physical effort
Brain cycles
Social deviance
Non-routine
Source: Dr. BJ Fogg, Stanford University ability
101. Simplicity
“Simplicity is a Factors of ability
function of your Time
scarcest resource Money
at that moment.” Physical effort
Brain cycles
- BJ Fogg Social deviance
Non-routine
Differ by person and context
113. Behaviors to actions with
cross-functional teams
= marketing
motivation
triggers =
interface design
ability = product
114. Your turn
• Take out your behavior from yesterday or pick a new one.
• Rate your ability to do your behavior. (1 is not at all able, 10
is very able, easy)
• Rate how motivated you are to do your behavior. (1 is not at
all, 10 is very)
• Share with your partner.
• Brainstorm how to increase your partner’s ability
(considering your scarcest resource) and / or increase
motivation? !! Crazy ideas are encouraged !!
• Write this down and be prepared to share.
115. Factors of ability
Time
Money
Physical effort
Brain cycles
Social deviance
Non-routine
Motivators of Behavior
Seek: Avoid:
Sensation Pleasure Pain
Anticipation Hope Fear
Social Cohesion Acceptance Rejection
Source: Dr. BJ Fogg, Stanford University
116. Bi· as
/ˈbīəs/
Noun, Def:
1. A tendency or inclination; a prejudice
2. A lever to increase motivation or ability
124. Which car owners?
• Are involved in more collisions.
• Receive 65% more traffic tickets.
• Drive 25% more miles than other drivers.
• Are a more costly risk to insure than other
vehicles in its class.
Source: Data from insurance analytics company Quality Planning, reported in “Mitchell Industry Trends Report” 2010
125. Moral licensing
• We tend to reward
ourselves with the
freedom to be
“bad” when we’re
acting “good.”
126. Anchoring
• We tend to rely too heavily on just one trait
of a decision.
• We overvalue things on sale
Jockey only! 3 for $29.50 5 for $34
so, 6 for $44.25 Unit cost = $6.80
Unit cost = $7.38
127. Completion
• Motivation • 8 car wash, get one
increases the free
closer get to a goal
• 8 blank squares vs.
• “Endowed progress 10 squares with 2
free punches
effect”
• 82% higher
completion rate
Source: Nunes and Drèze, The Endowed Progress Effect: How Artificial Advancement Increases Effort, 2006
129. Many more...
• Social proof, framing, reciprocity, relevance,
status quo, loss aversion, familiarity bias,
regret aversion, peak-end effect, money
proxy, authority bias ...
130. Your turn
• Pick one of the “Mental Notes” cards.
• How could you make use of a cognitive
biases to increase your partner’s behavior?
• Brainstorm with the person next to you for
5 min each. !! Go for lots of ideas !!
• Write this down and be prepared to share.
133. The brain and rewards
Watch
Source: Olds and Milner, 1945
134. What triggers the
reward system?
• Stimulation of brain’s reward system
activates new behaviors
• “Awakening the elephant” is possible
through probes or drugs
• What stimulates the brain naturally?
156. Fish bowl technique
• Addiction Recovery Study (Petry 2006)
• Patients earned opportunity to draw a ticket out of a bowl every
time they passed a drug test.
• Half of the tickets said “Keep up the good work.” The rest won the
patient a nominal prize worth $1 to $20 but one ticket was worth
$100 prize.
• 83% of fish bowl patients stayed in treatment for full 12 weeks
(vs 20% of standard-care patients).
• 80% of fish bowl patients passed all their drug tests
(vs. 40% of standard-care patients).
• Fish bowl group less likely to relapse.
• Technique worked better than paying patients for passing drug tests.
157.
158. Rewards Decay
• As rewards become predictable, they
become less novel
Finite Variability Infinite Variability
- Single-player games - Multi-player games
- Consumption of - Creation of content
media - Communities
- Finishing a race - Running for pleasure
or competition
159. Who gets hooked?
• Pathological gamblers and non-pathological
placed in MRI. See images of win, lose, and
“near-miss.”
• Pathological gamblers experienced more
“excitement” from seeing win.
• Gamblers brain saw near-miss as near-win.
• Non-pathological experienced near-miss as
near-loss.
• Unknown if gambler’s brain is different at
birth or if caused by repeated exposure.
Source: Habib, 2010
161. Your turn
• How could you use variable rewards to
increase your partner’s behavior?
• How can you add an element of mystery, the
unknown, or surprise?
• Consider the search for rewards of the tribe
(social), hunt (resources), self (mastery,
control) !! Crazy is ok !!
• Brainstorm with the person next to you for
5 min each and prepare to share.
163. Investment
• Where user does a bit
of “work.”
• “Pays” with something
of value: time, money,
social capital, effort,
emotional commitment,
personal data ...
173. The endowment effect
• When chimps given juice bar
and peanut butter, 50/50
preference split.
• When given PB first, 80% chose
to keep rather than exchange.
• The “endowed” item was
preferred
• Only worked for food
Source: Brosnan et al 2007
174. Humans endow things
• Endowed mugs vs pens worth twice as much
(Kahneman, Knetsch & Thaler,1990)
• Endowed final four tickets worth 14 times more
(Carmon and Ariely, 2000)
• Employees worked harder to maintain a
provisional bonus than a potential yet-to-be-
awarded prize (Hossain and List, 2010)
• Universal behavior across different populations and
with different goods (Hoffman and Spitzer,1993)
including children (Harbaugh et al, 2001)
175. Why do we endow?
• Improved bargaining position in bilateral
trades. If I act like I love it, maybe you will
too. (Huck, Kirchsteiger & Oechssler 2005)
• Loss aversion. Loosing feels twice as bad as
the joy of gaining. (Kahneman and Tversky,
1984)
• Need for consistency causes cognitive
dissonance leads to rationalization.
176. Rationalization and
commitment
Jesse Schell, Professor of game design,
Carnegie Mellon University
177. The preference cycle
Investment:
“Should I ‘spend’
on this?”
Confirmation: Rationalization:
“Since I spent on it “Only an idiot would
before, and I am not an have ‘spent’ on
idiot, it must be good.” something not good.”
178. Little investments,
big results
Group 1:
17% accepted
Group 2:
76% accepted
Source: Freedman & Fraser, 1966
179. Adaptive preference
formation
• Changing preferences to be
more compatible with the
situation.
• We acquire preferences to serve
our need to be consistent.
• Relieve pain of cognitive
dissonance.
Source: Jon Esler, 1983
180. Acquiring taste
• Think of the first time you
tried spicy food or alcohol.
• Acquiring taste follows similar
patterns of rationalization to
avoid cognitive dissonance.
• Change ourselves as we
change our preferences.
• “I’m a ____ drinker.”
181. Motivating through
identity
• Registered voters completed survey
the day before or the morning of the
election.
• “How important is it to you to be a
voter in the upcoming
election?” (Noun)
• “How important is it to you to vote
in the upcoming election?” (Verb)
• Tracked who actually voted.
• How we see ourselves (the nouns) “the largest experimental effects
shape what we do. ever observed on objectively
measured voter turnout.”
Source: Bryan, Walton, Rogers, and Dweck, 2011
182. In summary:
• We over value the results of our labor
(endowment effect)
• But need to rationalize this irrational value
(cognitive dissonance)
• One way to do this is to change our taste
(adaptive preference formation)
• And behave in line with how we see
ourselves (identity shaping)
183. Your turn
• How could you use small investments and
commitments to make your partner’s
behavior more likely to occur?
• Brainstorm with the person next to you for
5 min each.
• Write this down and be prepared to share.
185. Email
T A
Icon on phone
Open unread
Procrastinate, anxiety, messages
thoughts of others....
I R
Tribe, hunt and
Write back
self
186. Spectator sports
T A
Everywhere
Watch
Monday, boredom,
anxiety ...
I VR
Identify self as fan Outcome (Self)
Buy stuff Fandom - belonging (Tribe)
Attend events Capturing the win (Hunt)
187. With more cycles
Increase motivation
and difficulty of action
Greater loyalty, increased
price inelasticity, greater
satisfaction
188. Using neuroscience to
influence human behavior
• Preferences to behaviors.
• Behaviors to routines.
• Routines to habits.
• Habits become who we are.
189. What are you going to
do with this?
• When is it right to “give people what they
want?”
• When are people really in control?
• When is it ok to manipulate?
190. Use this for good.
and take a survey
www.OpinionTo.us