Study first
Review the ideas behind the questions
Check the audience behavior before choosing the campaign response. Name the behavior, the barrier, the person who can change the situation, and the evidence behind the response.
Name The Action
Behavior-change strategy starts by naming what people need to do, not only what the brand wants them to notice.
- A strong objective names a precise behavior, action, or group so the team is not working from a vague goal.
- The problem diagnosis should ask what is happening now and what needs to change because of the campaign.
- The audience may not be the person affected by the problem if another actor has more influence over the outcome.
In Practice
Write The Observable Step
Replace a broad aim such as awareness or interest with the action someone can actually take or the behavior they should start, stop, or maintain.
Check Who Controls The Step
If the intended audience cannot take the action alone, map the manager, partner, sales team, or service owner that enables it.
Common mistakes
Treating the affected audience as the target even when someone else controls the action.
Map who has the most influence on the behavior and target the person or role that can remove the block.
Q&A
What is the first strategy check for behavior change?
Name the exact action people need to take and confirm the audience can realistically take it.
Can awareness be a useful goal?
Yes, but for behavior change it should connect to the action or later behavior the campaign is meant to support.
Match The Barrier
The right strategy depends on why people are not acting. COM-B separates knowledge and skill barriers from motivation and outside constraints.
- COM-B says behavior needs capability, motivation, and opportunity to be present.
- Capability barriers involve awareness, knowledge, skills, or physical and mental ability.
- Opportunity barriers include time, money, tools, and resources. Systems and access can also stop the audience from acting.
In Practice
Do Not Overuse Education
More information can help a capability barrier, but it will not fix missing access, time, budget, or a broken process.
Validate The Barrier
Start with likely barriers, then use research, stakeholder input, or audience feedback to narrow the list before spending budget.
Common mistakes
Assuming people are not acting because they do not know enough.
Identify whether the block is knowledge, motivation, or an outside constraint before choosing the campaign response.
Q&A
When is a campaign alone the wrong answer?
When the main block is a severe opportunity barrier that the audience cannot bypass and the campaign team cannot fix.
Make The Plan Usable
The message and measurement plan should help people act and help the team learn whether the behavior changed.
- A message asking people to act should be specific enough for them to picture the action and form a plan.
- Risk messages should explain the risk and give clear instructions that build confidence in protective action.
- Outcomes show actual audience behavior, while outtakes show what people think, feel, or intend.
In Practice
Give The Next Step
A useful behavior-change message tells people what to do, who should do it, and what the next step looks like.
Measure Beyond Reaction
Agreement or intent can be useful, but behavior-change strategy also needs evidence that people started, stopped, or maintained the behavior.
Common mistakes
Reporting only message recall when the strategy needs a behavior to change.
Track whether outtakes are turning into the actual audience behavior the plan was built around.
Q&A
What should a risk message include?
It should explain the risk and give people clear, confidence-building instructions for the protective action.