Needle Strategy applies behavioral insights to help clients in three ways: 1) They helped a major publisher increase declining magazine subscriptions by allowing readers alternating access to content aligned with their aspirations. 2) They helped a large payroll company encourage digital transition by introducing incentives while lowering the ability barrier, resulting in a frictionless digital overhaul. 3) They are proposing a system for a project encouraging exercise that tracks and rewards movement not with prizes but donations to charities, appealing to internal motives rather than just tangible rewards.

1. How is Needle applying behavioral
insights to help their clients?

2. Behavioral considerations are becoming commonplace.
Dan Ariely
Chief Behavioral Officer &
Professor of Psychology &
Behavioral Economics at
Duke University
Lemonade Insurance
Qapital Savings
New start-ups recognize the importance of leveraging behavioral insights into their business models.
Dan Ariely, a world-renowned professor of behavioral economics, is actively involved in such
ventures.

3. And their impact shows.
Within 48 hours of launch
Launched in September 2016, Lemonade Insurance has already experienced massive growth, thanks
in large part to its innovative behavioral approach to insurance.

4. Three instances where we have
successfully applied behavioral
economics.

5. At Needle Strategy we have used behavioral
insights to help a major publisher.
The Problem
Declining magazine
subscriptions at a major
international publisher, both
digitally and print.
The Insight
Using the ‘Selective Exposure
Self and Affect Management’
(SESAM) model of media
consumption as a guideline, we
recognized that people use
magazines to cultivate and
reinforce aspirations and
desires. The existing business
model limited these aspirations
by restricting readers to a
narrow self.
The Solution
A system that allows readers
alternating access to the
publisher’s range of magazines,
allowing readers to selectively
access content most in keeping
with their aspirations.
Knobloch-Westerwick, 2014

6. The Problem
A large national payroll service
company is having difficulty
encouraging users and staff to
transition from a paper to
digital model.
The Insight
Using an adaptation of the
Stanford-affiliated ‘Fogg
Behavioral Model’, we
understand that behavior is a
product of abilities, motivation,
and triggers. Using this as a
basis, we will introduce a
system that provides the
necessary incentives while
lowering the ability barrier to
this new system.
The Solution
A frictionless transition from a
paper-based model to a digital
overhaul of the payroll system.
Fogg, 2009
At Needle Strategy we have used behavioral
insights to help a large payroll service company.

7. The Problem
A project intended to
encourage participants to
exercise more, whether it be by
bike, walking, or through
sports. But we recognize that
tangible rewards (i.e. store
discounts or prizes) only
motivate behavior so long as
people receive them, we
decided to work on people’s
internal motives.
The Insight
Drawing inspiration from the
influential “Self-Determination
Theory”, we know that engaging
in prosocial behavior is
strongly related to intrinsic
motivations, serving the three
internal needs for autonomy,
competence, and relatedness.
The Solution
We are currently in the process
of proposing a system that
tracks and rewards movement
not with prizes, but instead
with donations to a charity of
people’s choice.
Weinstein & Ryan, 2010
At Needle Strategy we have used behavioral
insights to help motivate people to move.

8. Thanks for reading!
Please contact us:
geert.desager@needlestrategy.com