Behavioural economics is one area within behavioural sciences that examines the Nudges are an example of behavioural insights, the application of behavioural psychological underpinnings of behaviour within the context of economic science understandings to real-world problems. The term originated with the UK's  decisions. Critically, it examines why people don't always behave according to Behavioural Insights Team, which was one of the first groups established to apply     predictions of classical economic models, which suggest behaviour should be nudge theory to public policy. An important theory in behavioural sciences is the dual process model of rational, self-interested, and based on evaluations of utilities, costs, and probabilities. Concepts like dual processing, heuristics, and cognitive biases help     behaviour. According to psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman in explain why reality oen deviates from economic theory, as observed naturally A PRIMER Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), this model breaks decision-making into two and in experimental settings. distinct processes - System 1, which is fast, easy, and unconscious, and System 2, which is slow, e ortful, and deliberate (Kahneman, 2011). Most decisions people make fall under the System 1 category.

System 1 saves us time and energy by making behaviour automatic and unconscious, while System 2 enables us to carefully evaluate all the available information to make rational decisions. Both systems are important in the Behavioural science aims to understand human behaviour decision-making process to respond to di erent circumstances based on the and decision-making. It encompasses disciplines examining amount of motivation, time, and energy that we have. the psychological underpinnings of behaviour, such as In the late 20th century, researchers Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky exam- ined how heuristics could lead to irrational decisions in uncertain situations and cognition, neuroscience and social psychology, and how developed cognitive models for behaviour that di ered from those in the field of Governments recognized the potential to apply behavioural economics to they intersect with fields involving behaviour, like economics. Based on this research, economist Richard Thaler further developed encourage behaviours like compliance for tax and fine payments, without having economics, politics, and communication. the notion that humans are not rational beings and oen behave counter to to introduce more restrictive laws and regulations (Behavioural Insights Team, 2014 ). classical economic theory. Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein went on to Other sectors have since introduced nudges and other behavioural insights, like propose that behavioural economics could be applied to influence behaviour narrative persuasion , to account for the complexity of human behaviour and be By taking an interdisciplinary approach, behavioural TIM LI IPR BEHAVIORAL INSIGHTS through what they referred to as nudges (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009). more successful at influencing it. Findings from behavioural sciences like MCMASTER UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CENTER scientists incorporate multiple facets of behaviour with psychology have long been applied to solve real-world problems. However, the rigorous empirical methods to develop a more complete DR. TERRY FLYNN Nudges are small interventions that encourage particular behaviours without the rise of behavioural insights embraces not only the concepts and theories MCMASTER UNIVERSITY picture of why we act the way we do. use of financial incentives or infringing on people's autonomy. To maintain peo- established by research, but also the rigorous empirical and iterative methods. ple's freedom to make their own decision (also known as libertarian paternalism), System 1 uses mental shortcuts, known as heuristics, which are e ective and choices are not limited. Instead, nudges change the environment that decisions A defining feature of behavioural insights application today is the evidence-based e icient most of the time. However, they also can lead to systematic and are made in, such as the ways choices or information are presented, commonly approach to creating interventions to influence behaviour. The spirit of referred to as the choice architecture, to align unconscious and instinctive experimentation and empirical rigor respects the complexity of human behaviour. predictable errors, known as cognitive biases. Examinations of these heuristics behaviours with desirable outcomes. The goal of nudges is make decision-making Research and testing inform the entire developmental process to ensure that and biases paved the way for the field of behavioural economics, where easier by leveraging the cognitive biases that would otherwise lead people to act strategies are appropriate and e ective. psychology research has been used to revise understandings of economic behaviour. irrationally, against their own intentions or best interests.

When people think about behavioural insights, they oen think of randomized control trials (RCTs). In an RCT, randomly assigned control and treatment groups storage of behavioural data should be transparent and respect peoples' privacy critical for the evaluation of interventions. Using tools from data science makes it are compared to determine an intervention's impact. They are a valuable tool Communications can fail if they fail to recognize that human behaviour is greatly Any attempt to influence others' behaviours warrants serious ethical and agency. Employing an iterative evaluation process ensures that unintended easier to conduct tests on multiple iterations of an intervention with di erent because they help establish causality between the intervention and behavioural influenced by unconscious psychological processes in response to both internal considerations, especially when it comes to behavioural insights that act on outcomes are addressed and the benefits of the interventions are substantiated. target audiences. As interventions are implemented and scaled up, the ability to change. However, there are many other research methods that are used in the factors like emotion or cognitive strain, and external factors like the environment. unconscious decision-making processes. Public relations professionals need to be process complex and larger data sets, commonly referred to as "big data", enables development of interventions, such as surveys, interviews, field observations, A/B Behavioural insights provide communicators with tools enhance the impact of aware of the potential for misuse, which is not only unethical, but also threatens Behavioural insights in public relations should conform to the ethical and the e icient evaluation of outcomes. testing, and quasi-experiments. their work by applying more realistic models of human behaviour built upon reputation and the trust established with publics. professional standards of the practice. While the concept of behavioural insights decades of psychological research. may be new, the strategies that emerge from them have been used by The growth of data science through machine learning and advanced algorithms One example of how the development of behavioural insights can be approached In particular, the rise in popularity of nudges has prompted criticism that they can communicators for a long time, both within and outside of the public relations changes the landscape of behavioural sciences and creates new opportunities for is the following four stage process: Many of the strategies from behavioural insights are already part of the public be manipulative and used to lead people to undesired desired behaviour. Thaler industry. The study of behavioural sciences provides an understanding of how applying behavioural insights in the real world. relations repertoire. However, the behavioural sciences now provide the empirical outlined three guiding principles in their work on nudges to ensure that they are di erent communication strategies work on a psychological level. In doing so, it evidence and frameworks for understanding why they work. Grounding these designed to be beneficial for everyone (2015): provides us with opportunities to make our work more e ective and prompts us strategies within the study of behavioural sciences helps public relations profes- to reflect on the ethical implications. sionals recognize the impact of cognitive biases and learn to mitigate them or use them to their advantage. It also emphasizes the importance of rigorously testing ideas and using evidence to inform and revise strategies. This critical thinking approach can help public relations evaluate assumptions and become more e ective in this ever-changing business environment. Data science is the scientific analysis of data to understand a particular topic and incorporate a wide range of disciplines like statistics and computer science. It In this method, the first step is to define the problem, understanding the broader The introduction of behavioural insights to public relations has been relatively allows us to observe patterns and trends in data using sophisticated analytical context it exists in and establishing goals for the intervention, specifically the new, compared to other sectors like public policy or marketing. However, it holds tools that we may not see otherwise. desired behavioural outcomes and how they can be measured. great promise for the future. In addition to interventions that improve the When nudges violate these principles, they are oen referred to as sludge (Thaler, behavioural impact of communication strategies and campaigns, behavioural 2018). Instead of helping people make better decisions, they make desirable While data science is oen employed to analyze behavioural data to inform policy A diagnosis of the situation then identifies the challenges to the intended insights can be applied to how we think about our profession. behaviours more di icult and therefore less likely, or encourage behaviours that and strategy in many sectors, it di ers from behavioural sciences, which provides behavioural change, such as cognitive biases, and the opportunities to leverage go against people's intentions. an interpretation of data through the lens of psychological concepts. Whereas psychological principles to overcome them. Research has begun to apply behavioural theories to decision-making within data sciences can be used e ectively to forecast future results based on past public relations. For example, cognitive biases can help explain why crisis commu- When discussing the ethics of nudges, Sunstein argues that choice architecture is trends, behavioural sciences provides the understanding to change behavioural Based on these opportunities, potential techniques for behavioural change, like nicators sometimes choose short-sighted and suboptimal responses, despite always present - any way choices are presented can influence the outcomes. In essence, behavioural insights are oen a means for acting on the nudges, are considered and developed further in the design stage. awareness and plans for better approaches (Claeys & Coombs, 2019). As a result of decision-making process (2015). The central purpose of nudging, as Thaler and findings that emerge from data analyses. time constraints and stress, communicators oen rely on intuition, which can be Sunstein have described it, should be to help people make better decisions. Once an intervention is designed, it needs to be rigorously tested to examine biased by loss aversion and a focus on short-term outcomes over long-term ones. Transparency and maintaining people's agency is paramount. People may not These two fields are tightly intertwined through the importance of empirical whether or not it is e ective in the real world. Using pilot studies, interventions By trying to mitigate immediate reputational damage, instead of looking at the always agree on whether the behaviours being nudged are better, but they should methods. Data science contributes to both the study of behavioural sciences and can be tested with samples of the target audience. Developing implementations big picture, they ignore evidence-based best practices. always have the freedom to choose or scrutinize the nudge application. their application. of behavioural insights is an iterative process, so the results of the testing are used to further refine or reorient the design before scaling up. Moving forward, public relations can begin to establish guidelines, standards, and Ethical considerations also need to be kept in mind during the development Within the developmental process of behavioural interventions, data science practices for incorporating behavioural insights research. process of behavioural insights interventions. The collection, analysis, and supports the research needed to define and diagnose the problem. It is also Behavioural economics is one area within behavioural sciences that examines the Nudges are an example of behavioural insights, the application of behavioural psychological underpinnings of behaviour within the context of economic science understandings to real-world problems. The term originated with the UK's decisions. Critically, it examines why people don't always behave according to Behavioural Insights Team, which was one of the first groups established to apply predictions of classical economic models, which suggest behaviour should be nudge theory to public policy. An important theory in behavioural sciences is the dual process model of rational, self-interested, and based on evaluations of utilities, costs, and probabilities. Concepts like dual processing, heuristics, and cognitive biases help behaviour. According to psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman in explain why reality oen deviates from economic theory, as observed naturally Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), this model breaks decision-making into two and in experimental settings. WHAT IS distinct processes - System 1, which is fast, easy, and unconscious, and System 2, which is slow, e ortful, and deliberate (Kahneman, 2011). Most decisions people BEHAVIOURAL make fall under the System 1 category. SCIENCE? System 1 saves us time and energy by making behaviour automatic and unconscious, while System 2 enables us to carefully evaluate all the available information to make rational decisions. Both systems are important in the BehaviouralBehavioural science aims science to understand aims to understand human behaviour human behaviour decision-making process to respond to di erent circumstances based on the and decision-making.and decision-making. It encompasses It encompasses disciplines disciplines examining examining amount of motivation, time, and energy that we have. In the late 20th century, researchers Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky exam- the psychologicalthe psychological underpinnings underpinnings of behaviour, of behaviour, such as such as ined how heuristics could lead to irrational decisions in uncertain situations and cognition,cognition, neuroscience neuroscience and social and psychology, social psychology, and how and how developed cognitive models for behaviour that di ered from those in the field of Governments recognized the potential to apply behavioural economics to they intersectthey withintersect fields with involving fields involvingbehaviour, behaviour, like like economics. Based on this research, economist Richard Thaler further developed encourage behaviours like compliance for tax and fine payments, without having economics,economics, politics, and politics, communication. and communication. the notion that humans are not rational beings and oen behave counter to to introduce more restrictive laws and regulations (Behavioural Insights Team, 2014 ). classical economic theory. Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein went on to Other sectors have since introduced nudges and other behavioural insights, like propose that behavioural economics could be applied to influence behaviour narrative persuasion , to account for the complexity of human behaviour and be By taking Byan takinginterdisciplinary an interdisciplinary approach, approach, behavioural behavioural through what they referred to as nudges (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009). more successful at influencing it. Findings from behavioural sciences like scientists incorporate multiple facets of behaviour with scientists incorporate multiple facets of behaviour with psychology have long been applied to solve real-world problems. However, the rigorous empiricalrigorous empiricalmethods tomethods develop to a develop more complete a more complete Nudges are small interventions that encourage particular behaviours without the rise of behavioural insights embraces not only the concepts and theories picture ofpicture why we of act why the we way act we the do. way we do. use of financial incentives or infringing on people's autonomy. To maintain peo- established by research, but also the rigorous empirical and iterative methods. ple's freedom to make their own decision (also known as libertarian paternalism), System 1 uses mental shortcuts, known as heuristics, which are e ective and choices are not limited. Instead, nudges change the environment that decisions A defining feature of behavioural insights application today is the evidence-based e icient most of the time. However, they also can lead to systematic and are made in, such as the ways choices or information are presented, commonly approach to creating interventions to influence behaviour. The spirit of referred to as the choice architecture, to align unconscious and instinctive experimentation and empirical rigor respects the complexity of human behaviour. predictable errors, known as cognitive biases. Examinations of these heuristics behaviours with desirable outcomes. The goal of nudges is make decision-making Research and testing inform the entire developmental process to ensure that and biases paved the way for the field of behavioural economics, where easier by leveraging the cognitive biases that would otherwise lead people to act strategies are appropriate and e ective. psychology research has been used to revise understandings of economic behaviour. irrationally, against their own intentions or best interests.

When people think about behavioural insights, they oen think of randomized control trials (RCTs). In an RCT, randomly assigned control and treatment groups storage of behavioural data should be transparent and respect peoples' privacy critical for the evaluation of interventions. Using tools from data science makes it are compared to determine an intervention's impact. They are a valuable tool Communications can fail if they fail to recognize that human behaviour is greatly Any attempt to influence others' behaviours warrants serious ethical and agency. Employing an iterative evaluation process ensures that unintended easier to conduct tests on multiple iterations of an intervention with di erent because they help establish causality between the intervention and behavioural influenced by unconscious psychological processes in response to both internal considerations, especially when it comes to behavioural insights that act on outcomes are addressed and the benefits of the interventions are substantiated. target audiences. As interventions are implemented and scaled up, the ability to change. However, there are many other research methods that are used in the factors like emotion or cognitive strain, and external factors like the environment. unconscious decision-making processes. Public relations professionals need to be process complex and larger data sets, commonly referred to as "big data", enables development of interventions, such as surveys, interviews, field observations, A/B Behavioural insights provide communicators with tools enhance the impact of aware of the potential for misuse, which is not only unethical, but also threatens Behavioural insights in public relations should conform to the ethical and the e icient evaluation of outcomes. testing, and quasi-experiments. their work by applying more realistic models of human behaviour built upon reputation and the trust established with publics. professional standards of the practice. While the concept of behavioural insights decades of psychological research. may be new, the strategies that emerge from them have been used by The growth of data science through machine learning and advanced algorithms One example of how the development of behavioural insights can be approached In particular, the rise in popularity of nudges has prompted criticism that they can communicators for a long time, both within and outside of the public relations changes the landscape of behavioural sciences and creates new opportunities for is the following four stage process: Many of the strategies from behavioural insights are already part of the public be manipulative and used to lead people to undesired desired behaviour. Thaler industry. The study of behavioural sciences provides an understanding of how applying behavioural insights in the real world. relations repertoire. However, the behavioural sciences now provide the empirical outlined three guiding principles in their work on nudges to ensure that they are di erent communication strategies work on a psychological level. In doing so, it evidence and frameworks for understanding why they work. Grounding these designed to be beneficial for everyone (2015): provides us with opportunities to make our work more e ective and prompts us strategies within the study of behavioural sciences helps public relations profes- to reflect on the ethical implications. sionals recognize the impact of cognitive biases and learn to mitigate them or use them to their advantage. It also emphasizes the importance of rigorously testing ideas and using evidence to inform and revise strategies. This critical thinking approach can help public relations evaluate assumptions and become more e ective in this ever-changing business environment. Data science is the scientific analysis of data to understand a particular topic and incorporate a wide range of disciplines like statistics and computer science. It In this method, the first step is to define the problem, understanding the broader The introduction of behavioural insights to public relations has been relatively allows us to observe patterns and trends in data using sophisticated analytical context it exists in and establishing goals for the intervention, specifically the new, compared to other sectors like public policy or marketing. However, it holds tools that we may not see otherwise. desired behavioural outcomes and how they can be measured. great promise for the future. In addition to interventions that improve the When nudges violate these principles, they are oen referred to as sludge (Thaler, behavioural impact of communication strategies and campaigns, behavioural 2018). Instead of helping people make better decisions, they make desirable While data science is oen employed to analyze behavioural data to inform policy A diagnosis of the situation then identifies the challenges to the intended insights can be applied to how we think about our profession. behaviours more di icult and therefore less likely, or encourage behaviours that and strategy in many sectors, it di ers from behavioural sciences, which provides behavioural change, such as cognitive biases, and the opportunities to leverage go against people's intentions. an interpretation of data through the lens of psychological concepts. Whereas psychological principles to overcome them. Research has begun to apply behavioural theories to decision-making within data sciences can be used e ectively to forecast future results based on past public relations. For example, cognitive biases can help explain why crisis commu- When discussing the ethics of nudges, Sunstein argues that choice architecture is trends, behavioural sciences provides the understanding to change behavioural Based on these opportunities, potential techniques for behavioural change, like nicators sometimes choose short-sighted and suboptimal responses, despite always present - any way choices are presented can influence the outcomes. In essence, behavioural insights are oen a means for acting on the nudges, are considered and developed further in the design stage. awareness and plans for better approaches (Claeys & Coombs, 2019). As a result of decision-making process (2015). The central purpose of nudging, as Thaler and findings that emerge from data analyses. time constraints and stress, communicators oen rely on intuition, which can be Sunstein have described it, should be to help people make better decisions. Once an intervention is designed, it needs to be rigorously tested to examine biased by loss aversion and a focus on short-term outcomes over long-term ones. Transparency and maintaining people's agency is paramount. People may not These two fields are tightly intertwined through the importance of empirical whether or not it is e ective in the real world. Using pilot studies, interventions By trying to mitigate immediate reputational damage, instead of looking at the always agree on whether the behaviours being nudged are better, but they should methods. Data science contributes to both the study of behavioural sciences and can be tested with samples of the target audience. Developing implementations big picture, they ignore evidence-based best practices. always have the freedom to choose or scrutinize the nudge application. their application. of behavioural insights is an iterative process, so the results of the testing are used to further refine or reorient the design before scaling up. Moving forward, public relations can begin to establish guidelines, standards, and Ethical considerations also need to be kept in mind during the development Within the developmental process of behavioural interventions, data science practices for incorporating behavioural insights research. process of behavioural insights interventions. The collection, analysis, and supports the research needed to define and diagnose the problem. It is also Behavioural economics is one area within behavioural sciences that examines the Nudges are an example of behavioural insights, the application of behavioural psychological underpinnings of behaviour within the context of economic science understandings to real-world problems. The term originated with the UK's SYSTEM VS SYSTEM  decisions. Critically, it examines why people don't always behave according to Behavioural Insights Team, which was one of the first groups established to apply predictions of classical economic models, which suggest behaviour should be nudge theory to public policy. rational, self-interested, and based on evaluations of utilities, costs, and An importantAn important theory in behaviouraltheory in behavioural sciences is sciences the dual is process the dual model process of model of probabilities. Concepts like dual processing, heuristics, and cognitive biases help behaviour. According to psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman in behaviour. According to psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman in explain why reality oen deviates from economic theory, as observed naturally Thinking, Thinking,Fast and Slow Fast and(2011), Slow this (2011), model this breaks model decision-making breaks decision-making into two into two and in experimental settings. distinct processesdistinct processes - System 1, - System which is 1, fast, which easy, is fast, and easy,unconscious, and unconscious, and System and 2, System 2, which is slow, e ortful, and deliberate (Kahneman, 2011). Most decisions people make fall makeunder fallthe under System the 1 category.System 1 category.

System 1 savesSystem us 1 time saves and us energytime and by energy making by behaviour making behaviour automatic automatic and and unconscious,unconscious, while System while 2 enablesSystem 2us enables to carefully us to evaluatecarefully allevaluate the available all the available information to make rational decisions. Both systems are important in the Behavioural science aims to understand human behaviour information to make rational decisions. Both systems are important in the decision-making process to respond to di erent circumstances based on the and decision-making. It encompasses disciplines examining amount of motivation, time, and energy that we have. the psychological underpinnings of behaviour, such as amount of motivation, time, and energy that we have. In the late 20th century, researchers Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky exam- ined how heuristics could lead to irrational decisions in uncertain situations and cognition, neuroscience and social psychology, and how developed cognitive models for behaviour that di ered from those in the field of Governments recognized the potential to apply behavioural economics to they intersect with fields involving behaviour, like economics. Based on this research, economist Richard Thaler further developed encourage behaviours like compliance for tax and fine payments, without having economics, politics, and communication. DUAL PROCESS MODEL OF BEHAVIOUR the notion that humans are not rational beings and oen behave counter to to introduce more restrictive laws and regulations (Behavioural Insights Team, 2014 ). classical economic theory. Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein went on to Other sectors have since introduced nudges and other behavioural insights, like    propose that behavioural economics could be applied to influence behaviour narrative persuasion , to account for the complexity of human behaviour and be By taking an interdisciplinary approach, behavioural    through what they referred to as nudges (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009). more successful at influencing it. Findings from behavioural sciences like scientists incorporate multiple facets of behaviour with          psychology have long been applied to solve real-world problems. However, the rigorous empirical methods to develop a more complete        Nudges are small interventions that encourage particular behaviours without the rise of behavioural insights embraces not only the concepts and theories SYSTEM ONE SYSTEM picture of why we act the way we do. TWO SYSTEM use of financial incentives or infringing on people's autonomy. To maintain peo- established by research, but also the rigorous empirical and iterative methods. ple's freedom to make their own decision (also known as libertarian paternalism), System 1 uses mental shortcuts, known as heuristics, which are e ective and choices are not limited. Instead, nudges change the environment that decisions A defining feature of behavioural insights application today is the evidence-based e icient most of the time. However, they also can lead to systematic and are made in, such as the ways choices or information are presented, commonly approach to creating interventions to influence behaviour. The spirit of referred to as the choice architecture, to align unconscious and instinctive experimentation and empirical rigor respects the complexity of human behaviour. predictable errors, known as cognitive biases. Examinations of these heuristics predictable errors, known as cognitive biases. Examinations of these heuristics behaviours with desirable outcomes. The goal of nudges is make decision-making Research and testing inform the entire developmental process to ensure that and biasesand paved biases the paved way for the the way field for of the behavioural field of behavioural economics, economics, where where easier by leveraging the cognitive biases that would otherwise lead people to act strategies are appropriate and e ective. psychologyps researchychology has res earbeench used has b toeen revise used understandings to revise understan of economicdings of ebehaviourconomic .beha viour. irrationally, against their own intentions or best interests.

When people think about behavioural insights, they oen think of randomized control trials (RCTs). In an RCT, randomly assigned control and treatment groups storage of behavioural data should be transparent and respect peoples' privacy critical for the evaluation of interventions. Using tools from data science makes it are compared to determine an intervention's impact. They are a valuable tool Communications can fail if they fail to recognize that human behaviour is greatly Any attempt to influence others' behaviours warrants serious ethical and agency. Employing an iterative evaluation process ensures that unintended easier to conduct tests on multiple iterations of an intervention with di erent because they help establish causality between the intervention and behavioural influenced by unconscious psychological processes in response to both internal considerations, especially when it comes to behavioural insights that act on outcomes are addressed and the benefits of the interventions are substantiated. target audiences. As interventions are implemented and scaled up, the ability to change. However, there are many other research methods that are used in the factors like emotion or cognitive strain, and external factors like the environment. unconscious decision-making processes. Public relations professionals need to be process complex and larger data sets, commonly referred to as "big data", enables development of interventions, such as surveys, interviews, field observations, A/B Behavioural insights provide communicators with tools enhance the impact of aware of the potential for misuse, which is not only unethical, but also threatens Behavioural insights in public relations should conform to the ethical and the e icient evaluation of outcomes. testing, and quasi-experiments. their work by applying more realistic models of human behaviour built upon reputation and the trust established with publics. professional standards of the practice. While the concept of behavioural insights decades of psychological research. may be new, the strategies that emerge from them have been used by The growth of data science through machine learning and advanced algorithms One example of how the development of behavioural insights can be approached In particular, the rise in popularity of nudges has prompted criticism that they can communicators for a long time, both within and outside of the public relations changes the landscape of behavioural sciences and creates new opportunities for is the following four stage process: Many of the strategies from behavioural insights are already part of the public be manipulative and used to lead people to undesired desired behaviour. Thaler industry. The study of behavioural sciences provides an understanding of how applying behavioural insights in the real world. relations repertoire. However, the behavioural sciences now provide the empirical outlined three guiding principles in their work on nudges to ensure that they are di erent communication strategies work on a psychological level. In doing so, it evidence and frameworks for understanding why they work. Grounding these designed to be beneficial for everyone (2015): provides us with opportunities to make our work more e ective and prompts us strategies within the study of behavioural sciences helps public relations profes- to reflect on the ethical implications. sionals recognize the impact of cognitive biases and learn to mitigate them or use them to their advantage. It also emphasizes the importance of rigorously testing ideas and using evidence to inform and revise strategies. This critical thinking approach can help public relations evaluate assumptions and become more e ective in this ever-changing business environment. Data science is the scientific analysis of data to understand a particular topic and incorporate a wide range of disciplines like statistics and computer science. It In this method, the first step is to define the problem, understanding the broader The introduction of behavioural insights to public relations has been relatively allows us to observe patterns and trends in data using sophisticated analytical context it exists in and establishing goals for the intervention, specifically the new, compared to other sectors like public policy or marketing. However, it holds tools that we may not see otherwise. desired behavioural outcomes and how they can be measured. great promise for the future. In addition to interventions that improve the When nudges violate these principles, they are oen referred to as sludge (Thaler, behavioural impact of communication strategies and campaigns, behavioural 2018). Instead of helping people make better decisions, they make desirable While data science is oen employed to analyze behavioural data to inform policy A diagnosis of the situation then identifies the challenges to the intended insights can be applied to how we think about our profession. behaviours more di icult and therefore less likely, or encourage behaviours that and strategy in many sectors, it di ers from behavioural sciences, which provides behavioural change, such as cognitive biases, and the opportunities to leverage go against people's intentions. an interpretation of data through the lens of psychological concepts. Whereas psychological principles to overcome them. Research has begun to apply behavioural theories to decision-making within data sciences can be used e ectively to forecast future results based on past public relations. For example, cognitive biases can help explain why crisis commu- When discussing the ethics of nudges, Sunstein argues that choice architecture is trends, behavioural sciences provides the understanding to change behavioural Based on these opportunities, potential techniques for behavioural change, like nicators sometimes choose short-sighted and suboptimal responses, despite always present - any way choices are presented can influence the outcomes. In essence, behavioural insights are oen a means for acting on the nudges, are considered and developed further in the design stage. awareness and plans for better approaches (Claeys & Coombs, 2019). As a result of decision-making process (2015). The central purpose of nudging, as Thaler and findings that emerge from data analyses. time constraints and stress, communicators oen rely on intuition, which can be Sunstein have described it, should be to help people make better decisions. Once an intervention is designed, it needs to be rigorously tested to examine biased by loss aversion and a focus on short-term outcomes over long-term ones. Transparency and maintaining people's agency is paramount. People may not These two fields are tightly intertwined through the importance of empirical whether or not it is e ective in the real world. Using pilot studies, interventions By trying to mitigate immediate reputational damage, instead of looking at the always agree on whether the behaviours being nudged are better, but they should methods. Data science contributes to both the study of behavioural sciences and can be tested with samples of the target audience. Developing implementations big picture, they ignore evidence-based best practices. always have the freedom to choose or scrutinize the nudge application. their application. of behavioural insights is an iterative process, so the results of the testing are used to further refine or reorient the design before scaling up. Moving forward, public relations can begin to establish guidelines, standards, and Ethical considerations also need to be kept in mind during the development Within the developmental process of behavioural interventions, data science practices for incorporating behavioural insights research. process of behavioural insights interventions. The collection, analysis, and supports the research needed to define and diagnose the problem. It is also BEHAVIOURAL ECONOMICS AND NUDGES

BehaviouralBehavioural economics economics is one area is withinone area behavioural within behavioural sciences that sciences examines that examinesthe the Nudges are an example of behavioural insights, the application of behavioural psychologicalpsychological underpinnings underpinnings of behaviour of behaviour within the within context the of context economic of economic science understandings to real-world problems. The term originated with the UK's decisions.decisions. Critically, Critically,it examines it examineswhy people why don't people always don't behave always according behave a tocc ording to Behavioural Insights Team, which was one of the first groups established to apply predictionspredictions of classical of economic classical economic models, which models, suggest which behaviour suggest behaviour should be should be nudge theory to public policy. An important theory in behavioural sciences is the dual process model of rational, self-interested,rational, self-interested, and based and on basedevaluations on evaluations of utilities, of costs, utilities, and costs, and probabilities.probabilities. Concepts Conceptslike dual processing, like dual processing, heuristics, heuristics, and cognitive and cognitivebiases help biases help behaviour. According to psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman in explain why reality oen deviates from economic theory, as observed naturally Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), this model breaks decision-making into two and in experimentaland in experimental settings. settings. distinct processes - System 1, which is fast, easy, and unconscious, and System 2, which is slow, e ortful, and deliberate (Kahneman, 2011). Most decisions people  make fall under the System 1 category. 

System 1 saves us time and energy by making behaviour automatic and  unconscious, while System 2 enables us to carefully evaluate all the available  information to make rational decisions. Both systems are important in the Behavioural science aims to understand human behaviour decision-making process to respond to di erent circumstances based on the and decision-making. It encompasses disciplines examining amount of motivation, time, and energy that we have. the psychological underpinnings of behaviour, such as In the lateIn 20th the century,late 20th researchers century, researchers Daniel Kahneman Daniel Kahneman and Amos and Tversky Amos exam- Tversky exam- ined how heuristics could lead to irrational decisions in uncertain situations and cognition, neuroscience and social psychology, and how ined how heuristics could lead to irrational decisions in uncertain situations and developed cognitive models for behaviour that di ered from those in the field of Governments recognized the potential to apply behavioural economics to they intersect with fields involving behaviour, like economics.economics. Based on Basedthis research, on this research,economist economist Richard Thaler Richard further Thaler developed further developed encourage behaviours like compliance for tax and fine payments, without having economics, politics, and communication. the notion that humans are not rational beings and oen behave counter to to introduce more restrictive laws and regulations (Behavioural Insights Team, 2014 ). classical economicclassical economic theory. Thaler theory. and Thaler legal andscholar legal Cass scholar Sunstein Cass wentSunstein on to went on to Other sectors have since introduced nudges and other behavioural insights, like propose that behavioural economics could be applied to influence behaviour narrative persuasion , to account for the complexity of human behaviour and be By taking an interdisciplinary approach, behavioural propose that behavioural economics could be applied to influence behaviour through whatthrough they what referred they to referred as nudges to as (Thaler nudges & (ThalerSunstein, & Sunstein,2009). 2009). more successful at influencing it. Findings from behavioural sciences like scientists incorporate multiple facets of behaviour with psychology have long been applied to solve real-world problems. However, the rigorous empirical methods to develop a more complete Nudges areNudges small areinterventions small interventions that encourage that encourage particular particular behaviours behaviours without the without the rise of behavioural insights embraces not only the concepts and theories picture of why we act the way we do. use of financialuse of incentivesfinancial incentives or infringing or infringing on people's on autonomy. people's autonomy. To maintain To peo-maintain peo- established by research, but also the rigorous empirical and iterative methods. ple's freedomple's to freedom make their to make own theirdecision own (also decision known (also as knownlibertarian as libertarian paternalism), paternalism), System 1 uses mental shortcuts, known as heuristics, which are e ective and choices arechoices not limited. are not Instead, limited. nudges Instead, change nudges the change environment the environment that decisions that decisions A defining feature of behavioural insights application today is the evidence-based e icient most of the time. However, they also can lead to systematic and are made arein, suchmade as in, the such ways as choicesthe ways or choices information or information are presented, are presented, commonly commonly approach to creating interventions to influence behaviour. The spirit of referred toreferred as the choice to as the architecture, choice architecture, to align unconscious to align unconscious and instinctive and instinctive experimentation and empirical rigor respects the complexity of human behaviour. predictable errors, known as cognitive biases. Examinations of these heuristics behavioursbehaviours with desirable with desirableoutcomes. outcomes. The goal of The nudges goal of is nudgesmake decision-making is make decision-making Research and testing inform the entire developmental process to ensure that and biases paved the way for the field of behavioural economics, where easier by leveragingeasier by leveraging the cognitive the cognitivebiases that biases would that otherwise would otherwise lead people lead to peopleact to act strategies are appropriate and e ective. psychology research has been used to revise understandings of economic behaviour. irrationally,irrationally, against their against own theirintentions own intentions or best interests. or best interests.

When people think about behavioural insights, they oen think of randomized control trials (RCTs). In an RCT, randomly assigned control and treatment groups storage of behavioural data should be transparent and respect peoples' privacy critical for the evaluation of interventions. Using tools from data science makes it are compared to determine an intervention's impact. They are a valuable tool Communications can fail if they fail to recognize that human behaviour is greatly Any attempt to influence others' behaviours warrants serious ethical and agency. Employing an iterative evaluation process ensures that unintended easier to conduct tests on multiple iterations of an intervention with di erent because they help establish causality between the intervention and behavioural influenced by unconscious psychological processes in response to both internal considerations, especially when it comes to behavioural insights that act on outcomes are addressed and the benefits of the interventions are substantiated. target audiences. As interventions are implemented and scaled up, the ability to change. However, there are many other research methods that are used in the factors like emotion or cognitive strain, and external factors like the environment. unconscious decision-making processes. Public relations professionals need to be process complex and larger data sets, commonly referred to as "big data", enables development of interventions, such as surveys, interviews, field observations, A/B Behavioural insights provide communicators with tools enhance the impact of aware of the potential for misuse, which is not only unethical, but also threatens Behavioural insights in public relations should conform to the ethical and the e icient evaluation of outcomes. testing, and quasi-experiments. their work by applying more realistic models of human behaviour built upon reputation and the trust established with publics. professional standards of the practice. While the concept of behavioural insights decades of psychological research. may be new, the strategies that emerge from them have been used by The growth of data science through machine learning and advanced algorithms One example of how the development of behavioural insights can be approached In particular, the rise in popularity of nudges has prompted criticism that they can communicators for a long time, both within and outside of the public relations changes the landscape of behavioural sciences and creates new opportunities for is the following four stage process: Many of the strategies from behavioural insights are already part of the public be manipulative and used to lead people to undesired desired behaviour. Thaler industry. The study of behavioural sciences provides an understanding of how applying behavioural insights in the real world. relations repertoire. However, the behavioural sciences now provide the empirical outlined three guiding principles in their work on nudges to ensure that they are di erent communication strategies work on a psychological level. In doing so, it evidence and frameworks for understanding why they work. Grounding these designed to be beneficial for everyone (2015): provides us with opportunities to make our work more e ective and prompts us strategies within the study of behavioural sciences helps public relations profes- to reflect on the ethical implications. sionals recognize the impact of cognitive biases and learn to mitigate them or use them to their advantage. It also emphasizes the importance of rigorously testing ideas and using evidence to inform and revise strategies. This critical thinking approach can help public relations evaluate assumptions and become more e ective in this ever-changing business environment. Data science is the scientific analysis of data to understand a particular topic and incorporate a wide range of disciplines like statistics and computer science. It In this method, the first step is to define the problem, understanding the broader The introduction of behavioural insights to public relations has been relatively allows us to observe patterns and trends in data using sophisticated analytical context it exists in and establishing goals for the intervention, specifically the new, compared to other sectors like public policy or marketing. However, it holds tools that we may not see otherwise. desired behavioural outcomes and how they can be measured. great promise for the future. In addition to interventions that improve the When nudges violate these principles, they are oen referred to as sludge (Thaler, behavioural impact of communication strategies and campaigns, behavioural 2018). Instead of helping people make better decisions, they make desirable While data science is oen employed to analyze behavioural data to inform policy A diagnosis of the situation then identifies the challenges to the intended insights can be applied to how we think about our profession. behaviours more di icult and therefore less likely, or encourage behaviours that and strategy in many sectors, it di ers from behavioural sciences, which provides behavioural change, such as cognitive biases, and the opportunities to leverage go against people's intentions. an interpretation of data through the lens of psychological concepts. Whereas psychological principles to overcome them. Research has begun to apply behavioural theories to decision-making within data sciences can be used e ectively to forecast future results based on past public relations. For example, cognitive biases can help explain why crisis commu- When discussing the ethics of nudges, Sunstein argues that choice architecture is trends, behavioural sciences provides the understanding to change behavioural Based on these opportunities, potential techniques for behavioural change, like nicators sometimes choose short-sighted and suboptimal responses, despite always present - any way choices are presented can influence the outcomes. In essence, behavioural insights are oen a means for acting on the nudges, are considered and developed further in the design stage. awareness and plans for better approaches (Claeys & Coombs, 2019). As a result of decision-making process (2015). The central purpose of nudging, as Thaler and findings that emerge from data analyses. time constraints and stress, communicators oen rely on intuition, which can be Sunstein have described it, should be to help people make better decisions. Once an intervention is designed, it needs to be rigorously tested to examine biased by loss aversion and a focus on short-term outcomes over long-term ones. Transparency and maintaining people's agency is paramount. People may not These two fields are tightly intertwined through the importance of empirical whether or not it is e ective in the real world. Using pilot studies, interventions By trying to mitigate immediate reputational damage, instead of looking at the always agree on whether the behaviours being nudged are better, but they should methods. Data science contributes to both the study of behavioural sciences and can be tested with samples of the target audience. Developing implementations big picture, they ignore evidence-based best practices. always have the freedom to choose or scrutinize the nudge application. their application. of behavioural insights is an iterative process, so the results of the testing are used to further refine or reorient the design before scaling up. Moving forward, public relations can begin to establish guidelines, standards, and Ethical considerations also need to be kept in mind during the development Within the developmental process of behavioural interventions, data science practices for incorporating behavioural insights research. process of behavioural insights interventions. The collection, analysis, and supports the research needed to define and diagnose the problem. It is also BEHAVIOURAL INSIGHTS

Behavioural economics is one area within behavioural sciences that examines the Nudges areNudges an example are an of example behavioural of behavioural insights, the insights, application the application of behavioural of behavioural psychological underpinnings of behaviour within the context of economic science understandingsscience understandings to real-world to real-world problems. problems. The term originatedThe term originated with the UK's with the UK's decisions. Critically, it examines why people don't always behave according to BehaviouralBehavioural Insights Team, Insights which Team, was which one of was the one first of groups the first established groups established to apply to apply predictions of classical economic models, which suggest behaviour should be nudge theorynudge to theorypublic policy.to public policy. An important theory in behavioural sciences is the dual process model of rational, self-interested, and based on evaluations of utilities, costs, and probabilities. Concepts like dual processing, heuristics, and cognitive biases help behaviour. According to psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman in explain why reality oen deviates from economic theory, as observed naturally Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), this model breaks decision-making into two and in experimental settings. distinct processes - System 1, which is fast, easy, and unconscious, and System 2,   which is slow, e ortful, and deliberate (Kahneman, 2011). Most decisions people   make fall under the System 1 category.

System 1 saves us time and energy by making behaviour automatic and    unconscious, while System 2 enables us to carefully evaluate all the available information to make rational decisions. Both systems are important in the Behavioural science aims to understand human behaviour decision-making process to respond to di erent circumstances based on the and decision-making. It encompasses disciplines examining amount of motivation, time, and energy that we have. the psychological underpinnings of behaviour, such as In the late 20th century, researchers Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky exam- ined how heuristics could lead to irrational decisions in uncertain situations and cognition, neuroscience and social psychology, and how developed cognitive models for behaviour that di ered from those in the field of GovernmentsGovernments recognized recognized the potential the potentialto apply behavioural to apply behavioural economics economics to to they intersect with fields involving behaviour, like economics. Based on this research, economist Richard Thaler further developed encourageencourage behaviours behaviours like compliance like compliance for tax and for fine tax payments, and fine payments, without having without having economics, politics, and communication. the notion that humans are not rational beings and oen behave counter to to introduceto introduce more restrictive more restrictive laws and regulationslaws and re gulations(Behavioural (Beh Insightsavioura Team,l Insights 2014 Te ).am , 2014 ). classical economic theory. Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein went on to Other sectorsOther have sectors since have introduced since introduced nudges and nudges other and behavioural other behavioural insights, like insights, like propose that behavioural economics could be applied to influence behaviour narrative persuasion , to account for the complexity of human behaviour and be By taking an interdisciplinary approach, behavioural narrative persuasion , to account for the complexity of human behaviour and be through what they referred to as nudges (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009). more successfulmore successful at influencing at influencing it. Findings it. from Findings behavioural from behavioural sciences like sciences like scientists incorporate multiple facets of behaviour with psychologypsychology have long have been long applied been to applied solve real-world to solve real-world problems. problems. However, However,the the rigorous empirical methods to develop a more complete Nudges are small interventions that encourage particular behaviours without the rise of behaviouralrise of behavioural insights embraces insights embraces not only the not concepts only the andconcepts theories and theories picture of why we act the way we do. use of financial incentives or infringing on people's autonomy. To maintain peo- establishedestablished by research, by research,but also the but rigorous also the empirical rigorous empiricaland iterative and methods. iterative methods. ple's freedom to make their own decision (also known as libertarian paternalism), System 1 uses mental shortcuts, known as heuristics, which are e ective and choices are not limited. Instead, nudges change the environment that decisions A definingA feature defining of feature behavioural of behavioural insights application insights application today is the today evidence-based is the evidence-based e icient most of the time. However, they also can lead to systematic and are made in, such as the ways choices or information are presented, commonly approachapproach to creating to interventions creating interventions to influence to influencebehaviour. behaviour. The spirit Theof spirit of referred to as the choice architecture, to align unconscious and instinctive experimentationexperimentation and empirical and empiricalrigor respects rigor the respects complexity the complexity of human of behaviour. human behaviour. predictable errors, known as cognitive biases. Examinations of these heuristics behaviours with desirable outcomes. The goal of nudges is make decision-making Research Researchand testing and inform testing the inform entire the developmental entire developmental process to process ensure tothat ensure that and biases paved the way for the field of behavioural economics, where easier by leveraging the cognitive biases that would otherwise lead people to act strategies are appropriate and e ective. psychology research has been used to revise understandings of economic behaviour. irrationally, against their own intentions or best interests.

When people think about behavioural insights, they oen think of randomized control trials (RCTs). In an RCT, randomly assigned control and treatment groups storage of behavioural data should be transparent and respect peoples' privacy critical for the evaluation of interventions. Using tools from data science makes it are compared to determine an intervention's impact. They are a valuable tool Communications can fail if they fail to recognize that human behaviour is greatly Any attempt to influence others' behaviours warrants serious ethical and agency. Employing an iterative evaluation process ensures that unintended easier to conduct tests on multiple iterations of an intervention with di erent because they help establish causality between the intervention and behavioural influenced by unconscious psychological processes in response to both internal considerations, especially when it comes to behavioural insights that act on outcomes are addressed and the benefits of the interventions are substantiated. target audiences. As interventions are implemented and scaled up, the ability to change. However, there are many other research methods that are used in the factors like emotion or cognitive strain, and external factors like the environment. unconscious decision-making processes. Public relations professionals need to be process complex and larger data sets, commonly referred to as "big data", enables development of interventions, such as surveys, interviews, field observations, A/B Behavioural insights provide communicators with tools enhance the impact of aware of the potential for misuse, which is not only unethical, but also threatens Behavioural insights in public relations should conform to the ethical and the e icient evaluation of outcomes. testing, and quasi-experiments. their work by applying more realistic models of human behaviour built upon reputation and the trust established with publics. professional standards of the practice. While the concept of behavioural insights decades of psychological research. may be new, the strategies that emerge from them have been used by The growth of data science through machine learning and advanced algorithms One example of how the development of behavioural insights can be approached In particular, the rise in popularity of nudges has prompted criticism that they can communicators for a long time, both within and outside of the public relations changes the landscape of behavioural sciences and creates new opportunities for is the following four stage process: Many of the strategies from behavioural insights are already part of the public be manipulative and used to lead people to undesired desired behaviour. Thaler industry. The study of behavioural sciences provides an understanding of how applying behavioural insights in the real world. relations repertoire. However, the behavioural sciences now provide the empirical outlined three guiding principles in their work on nudges to ensure that they are di erent communication strategies work on a psychological level. In doing so, it evidence and frameworks for understanding why they work. Grounding these designed to be beneficial for everyone (2015): provides us with opportunities to make our work more e ective and prompts us strategies within the study of behavioural sciences helps public relations profes- to reflect on the ethical implications. sionals recognize the impact of cognitive biases and learn to mitigate them or use them to their advantage. It also emphasizes the importance of rigorously testing ideas and using evidence to inform and revise strategies. This critical thinking approach can help public relations evaluate assumptions and become more e ective in this ever-changing business environment. Data science is the scientific analysis of data to understand a particular topic and incorporate a wide range of disciplines like statistics and computer science. It In this method, the first step is to define the problem, understanding the broader The introduction of behavioural insights to public relations has been relatively allows us to observe patterns and trends in data using sophisticated analytical context it exists in and establishing goals for the intervention, specifically the new, compared to other sectors like public policy or marketing. However, it holds tools that we may not see otherwise. desired behavioural outcomes and how they can be measured. great promise for the future. In addition to interventions that improve the When nudges violate these principles, they are oen referred to as sludge (Thaler, behavioural impact of communication strategies and campaigns, behavioural 2018). Instead of helping people make better decisions, they make desirable While data science is oen employed to analyze behavioural data to inform policy A diagnosis of the situation then identifies the challenges to the intended insights can be applied to how we think about our profession. behaviours more di icult and therefore less likely, or encourage behaviours that and strategy in many sectors, it di ers from behavioural sciences, which provides behavioural change, such as cognitive biases, and the opportunities to leverage go against people's intentions. an interpretation of data through the lens of psychological concepts. Whereas psychological principles to overcome them. Research has begun to apply behavioural theories to decision-making within data sciences can be used e ectively to forecast future results based on past public relations. For example, cognitive biases can help explain why crisis commu- When discussing the ethics of nudges, Sunstein argues that choice architecture is trends, behavioural sciences provides the understanding to change behavioural Based on these opportunities, potential techniques for behavioural change, like nicators sometimes choose short-sighted and suboptimal responses, despite always present - any way choices are presented can influence the outcomes. In essence, behavioural insights are oen a means for acting on the nudges, are considered and developed further in the design stage. awareness and plans for better approaches (Claeys & Coombs, 2019). As a result of decision-making process (2015). The central purpose of nudging, as Thaler and findings that emerge from data analyses. time constraints and stress, communicators oen rely on intuition, which can be Sunstein have described it, should be to help people make better decisions. Once an intervention is designed, it needs to be rigorously tested to examine biased by loss aversion and a focus on short-term outcomes over long-term ones. Transparency and maintaining people's agency is paramount. People may not These two fields are tightly intertwined through the importance of empirical whether or not it is e ective in the real world. Using pilot studies, interventions By trying to mitigate immediate reputational damage, instead of looking at the always agree on whether the behaviours being nudged are better, but they should methods. Data science contributes to both the study of behavioural sciences and can be tested with samples of the target audience. Developing implementations big picture, they ignore evidence-based best practices. always have the freedom to choose or scrutinize the nudge application. their application. of behavioural insights is an iterative process, so the results of the testing are used to further refine or reorient the design before scaling up. Moving forward, public relations can begin to establish guidelines, standards, and Ethical considerations also need to be kept in mind during the development Within the developmental process of behavioural interventions, data science practices for incorporating behavioural insights research. process of behavioural insights interventions. The collection, analysis, and supports the research needed to define and diagnose the problem. It is also Behavioural economics is one area within behavioural sciences that examines the Nudges are an example of behavioural insights, the application of behavioural psychological underpinnings of behaviour within the context of economic science understandings to real-world problems. The term originated with the UK's decisions. Critically, it examines why people don't always behave according to Behavioural Insights Team, which was one of the first groups established to apply predictions of classical economic models, which suggest behaviour should be nudge theory to public policy. An important theory in behavioural sciences is the dual process model of rational, self-interested, and based on evaluations of utilities, costs, and probabilities. Concepts like dual processing, heuristics, and cognitive biases help behaviour. According to psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman in explain why reality oen deviates from economic theory, as observed naturally Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), this model breaks decision-making into two and in experimental settings. distinct processes - System 1, which is fast, easy, and unconscious, and System 2, which is slow, e ortful, and deliberate (Kahneman, 2011). Most decisions people make fall under the System 1 category.

System 1 saves us time and energy by making behaviour automatic and unconscious, while System 2 enables us to carefully evaluate all the available information to make rational decisions. Both systems are important in the Behavioural science aims to understand human behaviour decision-making process to respond to di erent circumstances based on the and decision-making. It encompasses disciplines examining amount of motivation, time, and energy that we have. the psychological underpinnings of behaviour, such as In the late 20th century, researchers Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky exam- ined how heuristics could lead to irrational decisions in uncertain situations and cognition, neuroscience and social psychology, and how developed cognitive models for behaviour that di ered from those in the field of Governments recognized the potential to apply behavioural economics to they intersect with fields involving behaviour, like economics. Based on this research, economist Richard Thaler further developed encourage behaviours like compliance for tax and fine payments, without having economics, politics, and communication. the notion that humans are not rational beings and oen behave counter to to introduce more restrictive laws and regulations (Behavioural Insights Team, 2014 ). classical economic theory. Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein went on to Other sectors have since introduced nudges and other behavioural insights, like propose that behavioural economics could be applied to influence behaviour narrative persuasion , to account for the complexity of human behaviour and be By taking an interdisciplinary approach, behavioural through what they referred to as nudges (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009). more successful at influencing it. Findings from behavioural sciences like scientists incorporate multiple facets of behaviour with psychology have long been applied to solve real-world problems. However, the rigorous empirical methods to develop a more complete Nudges are small interventions that encourage particular behaviours without the rise of behavioural insights embraces not only the concepts and theories picture of why we act the way we do. use of financial incentives or infringing on people's autonomy. To maintain peo- established by research, but also the rigorous empirical and iterative methods. ple's freedom to make their own decision (also known as libertarian paternalism), System 1 uses mental shortcuts, known as heuristics, which are e ective and choices are not limited. Instead, nudges change the environment that decisions A defining feature of behavioural insights application today is the evidence-based e icient most of the time. However, they also can lead to systematic and are made in, such as the ways choices or information are presented, commonly approach to creating interventions to influence behaviour. The spirit of referred to as the choice architecture, to align unconscious and instinctive experimentation and empirical rigor respects the complexity of human behaviour. predictable errors, known as cognitive biases. Examinations of these heuristics behaviours with desirable outcomes. The goal of nudges is make decision-making Research and testing inform the entire developmental process to ensure that and biases paved the way for the field of behavioural economics, where easier by leveraging the cognitive biases that would otherwise lead people to act strategies are appropriate and e ective. psychology research has been used to revise understandings of economic behaviour. irrationally, against their own intentions or best interests.

When people think about behavioural insights, they oen think of randomized control trialscontrol (RCTs). trials In (RCTs).an RCT, In randomly an RCT, randomly assigned controlassigned and control treatment and treatment groups groups storage of behavioural data should be transparent and respect peoples' privacy critical for the evaluation of interventions. Using tools from data science makes it are comparedare compared to determine to determine an intervention's an intervention's impact. They impact. are aThey valuable are a tool valuable tool Communications can fail if they fail to recognize that human behaviour is greatly Any attempt to influence others' behaviours warrants serious ethical and agency. Employing an iterative evaluation process ensures that unintended easier to conduct tests on multiple iterations of an intervention with di erent because theybecause help theyestablish help causalityestablish betweencausality thebetween intervention the intervention and behavioural and behavioural influenced by unconscious psychological processes in response to both internal considerations, especially when it comes to behavioural insights that act on outcomes are addressed and the benefits of the interventions are substantiated. target audiences. As interventions are implemented and scaled up, the ability to change. However,change. Hthereowever, are manythere areother many research other methods research thatmethods are used that in are the used in the factors like emotion or cognitive strain, and external factors like the environment. unconscious decision-making processes. Public relations professionals need to be process complex and larger data sets, commonly referred to as "big data", enables developmentdevelopment of interventions, of interventions, such as surveys, such as interviews, surveys, interviews, field observations, field observations, A/B A/B Behavioural insights provide communicators with tools enhance the impact of aware of the potential for misuse, which is not only unethical, but also threatens Behavioural insights in public relations should conform to the ethical and the e icient evaluation of outcomes. testing, andtesting, quasi-experiments. and quasi-experiments. their work by applying more realistic models of human behaviour built upon reputation and the trust established with publics. professional standards of the practice. While the concept of behavioural insights decades of psychological research. may be new, the strategies that emerge from them have been used by The growth of data science through machine learning and advanced algorithms One exampleOne of example how the of development how the development of behavioural of behavioural insights can insights be approached can be approached In particular, the rise in popularity of nudges has prompted criticism that they can communicators for a long time, both within and outside of the public relations changes the landscape of behavioural sciences and creates new opportunities for is the followingis the followingfour stage four process: stage process: Many of the strategies from behavioural insights are already part of the public be manipulative and used to lead people to undesired desired behaviour. Thaler industry. The study of behavioural sciences provides an understanding of how applying behavioural insights in the real world. relations repertoire. However, the behavioural sciences now provide the empirical outlined three guiding principles in their work on nudges to ensure that they are di erent communication strategies work on a psychological level. In doing so, it evidence and frameworks for understanding why they work. Grounding these designed to be beneficial for everyone (2015): provides us with opportunities to make our work more e ective and prompts us strategies within the study of behavioural sciences helps public relations profes- to reflect on the ethical implications. sionals recognize the impact of cognitive biases and learn to mitigate them or use them to their advantage. It also emphasizes the importance of rigorously testing ideas and using evidence to inform and revise strategies. This critical thinking approach can help public relations evaluate assumptions and become more Adapted from (Datta & Mullainathan, 2014). e ective in this ever-changing business environment. Data science is the scientific analysis of data to understand a particular topic and incorporate a wide range of disciplines like statistics and computer science. It In this method,In this the method, first step the isfirst to definestep is theto define problem, the problem,understanding understanding the broader the broader The introduction of behavioural insights to public relations has been relatively allows us to observe patterns and trends in data using sophisticated analytical context it contextexists in it and exists establishing in and establishing goals for the goals intervention, for the intervention, specifically specifically the the new, compared to other sectors like public policy or marketing. However, it holds tools that we may not see otherwise. desired behaviouraldesired behavioural outcomes outcomes and how theyand howcan be they measured. can be measured. great promise for the future. In addition to interventions that improve the When nudges violate these principles, they are oen referred to as sludge (Thaler, behavioural impact of communication strategies and campaigns, behavioural 2018). Instead of helping people make better decisions, they make desirable While data science is oen employed to analyze behavioural data to inform policy A diagnosisA diagnosis of the situation of the thensituation identifies then identifiesthe challenges the challenges to the intended to the intended insights can be applied to how we think about our profession. behaviours more di icult and therefore less likely, or encourage behaviours that and strategy in many sectors, it di ers from behavioural sciences, which provides behaviouralbehavioural change, such change, as cognitive such as cognitivebiases, and biases, the opportunities and the opportunities to leverage to leverage go against people's intentions. an interpretation of data through the lens of psychological concepts. Whereas psychologicalpsychological principles principles to overcome to overcome them. them. Research has begun to apply behavioural theories to decision-making within data sciences can be used e ectively to forecast future results based on past public relations. For example, cognitive biases can help explain why crisis commu- When discussing the ethics of nudges, Sunstein argues that choice architecture is trends, behavioural sciences provides the understanding to change behavioural Based on Basedthese opportunities,on these opportunities, potential potentialtechniques techniques for behavioural for behavioural change, like change, like nicators sometimes choose short-sighted and suboptimal responses, despite always present - any way choices are presented can influence the outcomes. In essence, behavioural insights are oen a means for acting on the nudges, arenudges, considered are considered and developed and developed further in furtherthe design in the stage. design stage. awareness and plans for better approaches (Claeys & Coombs, 2019). As a result of decision-making process (2015). The central purpose of nudging, as Thaler and findings that emerge from data analyses. time constraints and stress, communicators oen rely on intuition, which can be Sunstein have described it, should be to help people make better decisions. Once an interventionOnce an intervention is designed, is designed, it needs to it beneeds rigorously to be rigorously tested to examinetested to examine biased by loss aversion and a focus on short-term outcomes over long-term ones. Transparency and maintaining people's agency is paramount. People may not These two fields are tightly intertwined through the importance of empirical whether or not it is e ective in the real world. Using pilot studies, interventions By trying to mitigate immediate reputational damage, instead of looking at the always agree on whether the behaviours being nudged are better, but they should methods. Data science contributes to both the study of behavioural sciences and can be testedcan bewith tested samples with of samples the target of the audience. target audience. Developing Developing implementations implementations big picture, they ignore evidence-based best practices. always have the freedom to choose or scrutinize the nudge application. their application. of behaviouralof behavioural insights is insights an iterative is an process, iterative so process, the results so the of resultsthe testing of the are testing used are used to further torefine further or reorient refine or the reorient design the before design scaling before up. scaling up. Moving forward, public relations can begin to establish guidelines, standards, and Ethical considerations also need to be kept in mind during the development Within the developmental process of behavioural interventions, data science practices for incorporating behavioural insights research. process of behavioural insights interventions. The collection, analysis, and supports the research needed to define and diagnose the problem. It is also Behavioural economics is one area within behavioural sciences that examines the Nudges are an example of behavioural insights, the application of behavioural psychological underpinnings of behaviour within the context of economic science understandings to real-world problems. The term originated with the UK's decisions. Critically, it examines why people don't always behave according to Behavioural Insights Team, which was one of the first groups established to apply predictions of classical economic models, which suggest behaviour should be nudge theory to public policy. An important theory in behavioural sciences is the dual process model of rational, self-interested, and based on evaluations of utilities, costs, and probabilities. Concepts like dual processing, heuristics, and cognitive biases help behaviour. According to psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman in explain why reality oen deviates from economic theory, as observed naturally Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), this model breaks decision-making into two and in experimental settings. distinct processes - System 1, which is fast, easy, and unconscious, and System 2, which is slow, e ortful, and deliberate (Kahneman, 2011). Most decisions people make fall under the System 1 category.

System 1 saves us time and energy by making behaviour automatic and unconscious, while System 2 enables us to carefully evaluate all the available information to make rational decisions. Both systems are important in the Behavioural science aims to understand human behaviour decision-making process to respond to di erent circumstances based on the and decision-making. It encompasses disciplines examining amount of motivation, time, and energy that we have. the psychological underpinnings of behaviour, such as In the late 20th century, researchers Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky exam- ined how heuristics could lead to irrational decisions in uncertain situations and cognition, neuroscience and social psychology, and how developed cognitive models for behaviour that di ered from those in the field of Governments recognized the potential to apply behavioural economics to they intersect with fields involving behaviour, like economics. Based on this research, economist Richard Thaler further developed encourage behaviours like compliance for tax and fine payments, without having economics, politics, and communication. the notion that humans are not rational beings and oen behave counter to to introduce more restrictive laws and regulations (Behavioural Insights Team, 2014 ). classical economic theory. Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein went on to Other sectors have since introduced nudges and other behavioural insights, like propose that behavioural economics could be applied to influence behaviour narrative persuasion , to account for the complexity of human behaviour and be By taking an interdisciplinary approach, behavioural through what they referred to as nudges (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009). more successful at influencing it. Findings from behavioural sciences like scientists incorporate multiple facets of behaviour with psychology have long been applied to solve real-world problems. However, the rigorous empirical methods to develop a more complete Nudges are small interventions that encourage particular behaviours without the rise of behavioural insights embraces not only the concepts and theories picture of why we act the way we do. use of financial incentives or infringing on people's autonomy. To maintain peo- established by research, but also the rigorous empirical and iterative methods. ple's freedom to make their own decision (also known as libertarian paternalism), System 1 uses mental shortcuts, known as heuristics, which are e ective and choices are not limited. Instead, nudges change the environment that decisions A defining feature of behavioural insights application today is the evidence-based e icient most of the time. However, they also can lead to systematic and are made in, such as the ways choices or information are presented, commonly approach to creating interventions to influence behaviour. The spirit of referred to as the choice architecture, to align unconscious and instinctive experimentation and empirical rigor respects the complexity of human behaviour. predictable errors, known as cognitive biases. Examinations of these heuristics behaviours with desirable outcomes. The goal of nudges is make decision-making Research and testing inform the entire developmental process to ensure that and biases paved the way for the field of behavioural economics, where easier by leveraging the cognitive biases that would otherwise lead people to act strategies are appropriate and e ective. psychology research has been used to revise understandings of economic behaviour. irrationally, against their own intentions or best interests.

When people think about behavioural insights, they oen think of randomized BEHAVIOURAL INSIGHTS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS control trials (RCTs). In an RCT, randomly assigned control and treatment groups storage of behavioural data should be transparent and respect peoples' privacy critical for the evaluation of interventions. Using tools from data science makes it are compared to determine an intervention's impact. They are a valuable tool CommunicationsCommunications can fail if theycan fail fail if to they recognize fail to recognize that human that behaviour human behaviour is greatly is greatly Any attempt to influence others' behaviours warrants serious ethical and agency. Employing an iterative evaluation process ensures that unintended easier to conduct tests on multiple iterations of an intervention with di erent because they help establish causality between the intervention and behavioural influencedinfluenced by unconscious by unconscious psychological psychological processes processes in response in responseto both internal to both internal considerations, especially when it comes to behavioural insights that act on outcomes are addressed and the benefits of the interventions are substantiated. target audiences. As interventions are implemented and scaled up, the ability to change. However, there are many other research methods that are used in the factors likefactors emotion like or emotion cognitive or cognitivestrain, and strain, external and factors external like factors the environment. like the environment. unconscious decision-making processes. Public relations professionals need to be process complex and larger data sets, commonly referred to as "big data", enables development of interventions, such as surveys, interviews, field observations, A/B BehaviouralBehavioural insights provide insights communicators provide communicators with tools with enhance tools the enhance impact the of impact of aware of the potential for misuse, which is not only unethical, but also threatens Behavioural insights in public relations should conform to the ethical and the e icient evaluation of outcomes. testing, and quasi-experiments. their worktheir by applying work by moreapplying realistic more models realistic of models human of behaviour human behaviour built upon built upon reputation and the trust established with publics. professional standards of the practice. While the concept of behavioural insights decades ofdecades psychological of psychological research. research. may be new, the strategies that emerge from them have been used by The growth of data science through machine learning and advanced algorithms One example of how the development of behavioural insights can be approached In particular, the rise in popularity of nudges has prompted criticism that they can communicators for a long time, both within and outside of the public relations changes the landscape of behavioural sciences and creates new opportunities for is the following four stage process: Many of theMany strategies of the strategies from behavioural from behavioural insights are insights already are part already of the part public of the public be manipulative and used to lead people to undesired desired behaviour. Thaler industry. The study of behavioural sciences provides an understanding of how applying behavioural insights in the real world. relations repertoire.relations repertoire. However, Htheow behaviouralever, the behavioural sciences now sciences provide now the provide empirical the empirical outlined three guiding principles in their work on nudges to ensure that they are di erent communication strategies work on a psychological level. In doing so, it evidence andevidence frameworks and frameworks for understanding for understanding why they work.why they Grounding work. 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It also emphasizes It also emphasizes the importance the importance of rigorously of rigorously testing testing ideas andideas using and evidence using toevidence inform toand inform revise and strategies. revise stra Thiste gies.critical This thinking critical thinking approachapproach can help public can help relations public evaluaterelations assumptionsevaluate assumptions and become and more become more e ective in this ever-changing business environment. Data science is the scientific analysis of data to understand a particular topic and incorporate a wide range of disciplines like statistics and computer science. It In this method, the first step is to define the problem, understanding the broader The introductionThe introduction of behavioural of behavioural insights to insights public relationsto public hasrelations been relativelyhas been relatively allows us to observe patterns and trends in data using sophisticated analytical context it exists in and establishing goals for the intervention, specifically the new, comparednew, compared to other sectors to other like sectors public like policy public or marketing.policy or marketing. However, Hitow holdsever, it holds tools that we may not see otherwise. desired behavioural outcomes and how they can be measured. great promisegreat for promise the future. for the In additionfuture. In to addition interventions to interventions that improve that the improve the When nudges violate these principles, they are oen referred to as sludge (Thaler, behaviouralbehavioural impact of impactcommunication of communication strategies stra andte campaigns,gies and campaigns, behavioural behavioural 2018). Instead of helping people make better decisions, they make desirable While data science is oen employed to analyze behavioural data to inform policy A diagnosis of the situation then identifies the challenges to the intended insights caninsights be applied can be to applied how we to think how about we think our about profession. our profession. behaviours more di icult and therefore less likely, or encourage behaviours that and strategy in many sectors, it di ers from behavioural sciences, which provides behavioural change, such as cognitive biases, and the opportunities to leverage go against people's intentions. an interpretation of data through the lens of psychological concepts. Whereas psychological principles to overcome them. Research Researchhas begun has to applybegun behavioural to apply behavioural theories to theories decision-making to decision-making within within data sciences can be used e ectively to forecast future results based on past public relations.public relations.For example, For example,cognitive cognitivebiases can biases help explain can help why explain crisis why commu- crisis commu- When discussing the ethics of nudges, Sunstein argues that choice architecture is trends, behavioural sciences provides the understanding to change behavioural Based on these opportunities, potential techniques for behavioural change, like nicators sometimesnicators sometimes choose short-sighted choose short-sighted and suboptimal and suboptimal responses, responses, despite despite always present - any way choices are presented can influence the outcomes. In essence, behavioural insights are oen a means for acting on the nudges, are considered and developed further in the design stage. awarenessawareness and plans and for betterplans forapproaches better approaches (Claeys & (ClaeysCoombs, & 2019).Coombs, As a2019). result As of a result of decision-making process (2015). The central purpose of nudging, as Thaler and findings that emerge from data analyses. time constraints and stress, communicators oen rely on intuition, which can be Sunstein have described it, should be to help people make better decisions. Once an intervention is designed, it needs to be rigorously tested to examine biased bybiased loss aversion by loss and aversion a focus and on a short-term focus on short-term outcomes outcomes over long-term over long-term ones. ones. Transparency and maintaining people's agency is paramount. People may not These two fields are tightly intertwined through the importance of empirical whether or not it is e ective in the real world. Using pilot studies, interventions By trying toBy mitigate trying to immediate mitigate immediate reputational reputational damage, insteaddamage, of instead looking of at looking the at the always agree on whether the behaviours being nudged are better, but they should methods. Data science contributes to both the study of behavioural sciences and can be tested with samples of the target audience. Developing implementations big picture,big they picture, ignore they evidence-based ignore evidence-based best practices. best practices. always have the freedom to choose or scrutinize the nudge application. their application. of behavioural insights is an iterative process, so the results of the testing are used to further refine or reorient the design before scaling up. Moving forward,Moving public forward, relations public canrelations begin can to establish begin to guidelines,establish guidelines, standards, standards, and and Ethical considerations also need to be kept in mind during the development Within the developmental process of behavioural interventions, data science practices forpractices incorporating for incorporating behavioural behavioural insights research. insights research. process of behavioural insights interventions. The collection, analysis, and supports the research needed to define and diagnose the problem. It is also Behavioural economics is one area within behavioural sciences that examines the Nudges are an example of behavioural insights, the application of behavioural psychological underpinnings of behaviour within the context of economic science understandings to real-world problems. The term originated with the UK's decisions. Critically, it examines why people don't always behave according to Behavioural Insights Team, which was one of the first groups established to apply predictions of classical economic models, which suggest behaviour should be nudge theory to public policy. An important theory in behavioural sciences is the dual process model of rational, self-interested, and based on evaluations of utilities, costs, and probabilities. Concepts like dual processing, heuristics, and cognitive biases help behaviour. According to psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman in explain why reality oen deviates from economic theory, as observed naturally Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), this model breaks decision-making into two and in experimental settings. distinct processes - System 1, which is fast, easy, and unconscious, and System 2, which is slow, e ortful, and deliberate (Kahneman, 2011). Most decisions people make fall under the System 1 category.

System 1 saves us time and energy by making behaviour automatic and unconscious, while System 2 enables us to carefully evaluate all the available information to make rational decisions. Both systems are important in the Behavioural science aims to understand human behaviour decision-making process to respond to di erent circumstances based on the and decision-making. It encompasses disciplines examining amount of motivation, time, and energy that we have. the psychological underpinnings of behaviour, such as In the late 20th century, researchers Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky exam- ined how heuristics could lead to irrational decisions in uncertain situations and cognition, neuroscience and social psychology, and how developed cognitive models for behaviour that di ered from those in the field of Governments recognized the potential to apply behavioural economics to they intersect with fields involving behaviour, like economics. Based on this research, economist Richard Thaler further developed encourage behaviours like compliance for tax and fine payments, without having economics, politics, and communication. the notion that humans are not rational beings and oen behave counter to to introduce more restrictive laws and regulations (Behavioural Insights Team, 2014 ). classical economic theory. Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein went on to Other sectors have since introduced nudges and other behavioural insights, like propose that behavioural economics could be applied to influence behaviour narrative persuasion , to account for the complexity of human behaviour and be By taking an interdisciplinary approach, behavioural through what they referred to as nudges (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009). more successful at influencing it. Findings from behavioural sciences like scientists incorporate multiple facets of behaviour with psychology have long been applied to solve real-world problems. However, the rigorous empirical methods to develop a more complete Nudges are small interventions that encourage particular behaviours without the rise of behavioural insights embraces not only the concepts and theories picture of why we act the way we do. use of financial incentives or infringing on people's autonomy. To maintain peo- established by research, but also the rigorous empirical and iterative methods. ple's freedom to make their own decision (also known as libertarian paternalism), System 1 uses mental shortcuts, known as heuristics, which are e ective and choices are not limited. Instead, nudges change the environment that decisions A defining feature of behavioural insights application today is the evidence-based e icient most of the time. However, they also can lead to systematic and are made in, such as the ways choices or information are presented, commonly approach to creating interventions to influence behaviour. The spirit of referred to as the choice architecture, to align unconscious and instinctive experimentation and empirical rigor respects the complexity of human behaviour. predictable errors, known as cognitive biases. Examinations of these heuristics behaviours with desirable outcomes. The goal of nudges is make decision-making Research and testing inform the entire developmental process to ensure that and biases paved the way for the field of behavioural economics, where easier by leveraging the cognitive biases that would otherwise lead people to act strategies are appropriate and e ective. psychology research has been used to revise understandings of economic behaviour. irrationally, against their own intentions or best interests.

When people think about behavioural insights, they oen think of randomized THE ETHICS OF BEHAVIOURAL INSIGHTS control trials (RCTs). In an RCT, randomly assigned control and treatment groups storage of behavioural data should be transparent and respect peoples' privacy critical for the evaluation of interventions. Using tools from data science makes it are compared to determine an intervention's impact. They are a valuable tool Communications can fail if they fail to recognize that human behaviour is greatly Any attemptAny to attempt influence to influenceothers' behaviours others' behaviours warrants seriouswarrants ethical serious ethical and agency. Employing an iterative evaluation process ensures that unintended easier to conduct tests on multiple iterations of an intervention with di erent because they help establish causality between the intervention and behavioural influenced by unconscious psychological processes in response to both internal considerations,considerations, especially especially when it comes when to it comesbehavioural to behavioural insights that insights act on that act on outcomes are addressed and the benefits of the interventions are substantiated. target audiences. As interventions are implemented and scaled up, the ability to change. However, there are many other research methods that are used in the factors like emotion or cognitive strain, and external factors like the environment. unconsciousunconscious decision-making decision-making processes. processes. Public relations Public professionalsrelations professionals need to be need to be process complex and larger data sets, commonly referred to as "big data", enables development of interventions, such as surveys, interviews, field observations, A/B Behavioural insights provide communicators with tools enhance the impact of aware of theaware potential of the potentialfor misuse, for which misuse, is not which only is unethical, not only unethical, but also threatens but also threatens Behavioural insights in public relations should conform to the ethical and the e icient evaluation of outcomes. testing, and quasi-experiments. their work by applying more realistic models of human behaviour built upon reputationreputation and the trust and established the trust established with publics. with publics. professional standards of the practice. While the concept of behavioural insights decades of psychological research. may be new, the strategies that emerge from them have been used by The growth of data science through machine learning and advanced algorithms One example of how the development of behavioural insights can be approached In particular,In particular, the rise in the popularity rise in popularity of nudges of has nudges prompted has prompted criticism that criticism they canthat they can communicators for a long time, both within and outside of the public relations changes the landscape of behavioural sciences and creates new opportunities for is the following four stage process: Many of the strategies from behavioural insights are already part of the public be manipulativebe manipulative and used andto lead used people to lead to peopleundesired to undesired desired behaviour. desired behaviour. Thaler Thaler industry. The study of behavioural sciences provides an understanding of how applying behavioural insights in the real world. relations repertoire. However, the behavioural sciences now provide the empirical outlined threeoutlined guiding three principles guiding principles in their work in their on nudges work on to nudges ensure tothat ensure they arethat they are di erent communication strategies work on a psychological level. In doing so, it evidence and frameworks for understanding why they work. Grounding these designed designedto be beneficial to be beneficial for everyone for everyone(2015): (2015): provides us with opportunities to make our work more e ective and prompts us strategies within the study of behavioural sciences helps public relations profes- to reflect on the ethical implications. sionals recognize the impact of cognitive biases and learn to mitigate them or use them to their advantage. It also emphasizes the importance of rigorously testing       
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Critically, it examines why people don't always behave according to Behavioural Insights Team, which was one of the first groups established to apply predictions of classical economic models, which suggest behaviour should be nudge theory to public policy. An important theory in behavioural sciences is the dual process model of rational, self-interested, and based on evaluations of utilities, costs, and probabilities. Concepts like dual processing, heuristics, and cognitive biases help behaviour. According to psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman in explain why reality oen deviates from economic theory, as observed naturally Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), this model breaks decision-making into two and in experimental settings. distinct processes - System 1, which is fast, easy, and unconscious, and System 2, which is slow, e ortful, and deliberate (Kahneman, 2011). Most decisions people make fall under the System 1 category.

System 1 saves us time and energy by making behaviour automatic and unconscious, while System 2 enables us to carefully evaluate all the available information to make rational decisions. Both systems are important in the Behavioural science aims to understand human behaviour decision-making process to respond to di erent circumstances based on the and decision-making. It encompasses disciplines examining amount of motivation, time, and energy that we have. the psychological underpinnings of behaviour, such as In the late 20th century, researchers Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky exam- ined how heuristics could lead to irrational decisions in uncertain situations and cognition, neuroscience and social psychology, and how developed cognitive models for behaviour that di ered from those in the field of Governments recognized the potential to apply behavioural economics to they intersect with fields involving behaviour, like economics. Based on this research, economist Richard Thaler further developed encourage behaviours like compliance for tax and fine payments, without having economics, politics, and communication. the notion that humans are not rational beings and oen behave counter to to introduce more restrictive laws and regulations (Behavioural Insights Team, 2014 ). classical economic theory. Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein went on to Other sectors have since introduced nudges and other behavioural insights, like propose that behavioural economics could be applied to influence behaviour narrative persuasion , to account for the complexity of human behaviour and be By taking an interdisciplinary approach, behavioural through what they referred to as nudges (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009). more successful at influencing it. Findings from behavioural sciences like scientists incorporate multiple facets of behaviour with psychology have long been applied to solve real-world problems. However, the rigorous empirical methods to develop a more complete Nudges are small interventions that encourage particular behaviours without the rise of behavioural insights embraces not only the concepts and theories picture of why we act the way we do. use of financial incentives or infringing on people's autonomy. To maintain peo- established by research, but also the rigorous empirical and iterative methods. ple's freedom to make their own decision (also known as libertarian paternalism), System 1 uses mental shortcuts, known as heuristics, which are e ective and choices are not limited. Instead, nudges change the environment that decisions A defining feature of behavioural insights application today is the evidence-based e icient most of the time. However, they also can lead to systematic and are made in, such as the ways choices or information are presented, commonly approach to creating interventions to influence behaviour. The spirit of referred to as the choice architecture, to align unconscious and instinctive experimentation and empirical rigor respects the complexity of human behaviour. predictable errors, known as cognitive biases. Examinations of these heuristics behaviours with desirable outcomes. The goal of nudges is make decision-making Research and testing inform the entire developmental process to ensure that and biases paved the way for the field of behavioural economics, where easier by leveraging the cognitive biases that would otherwise lead people to act strategies are appropriate and e ective. psychology research has been used to revise understandings of economic behaviour. irrationally, against their own intentions or best interests.

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It In this method, the first step is to define the problem, understanding the broader The introduction of behavioural insights to public relations has been relatively allows us allowsto observe us to patterns observe and patterns trends and in datatrends using in data sophisticated using sophisticated analytical analytical context it exists in and establishing goals for the intervention, specifically the new, compared to other sectors like public policy or marketing. However, it holds tools thattools we may that not we see may otherwise. not see otherwise. desired behavioural outcomes and how they can be measured. great promise for the future. In addition to interventions that improve the When nudges violate these principles, they are oen referred to as sludge (Thaler, behavioural impact of communication strategies and campaigns, behavioural 2018). Instead of helping people make better decisions, they make desirable While data science is oen employed to analyze behavioural data to inform policy A diagnosis of the situation then identifies the challenges to the intended insights can be applied to how we think about our profession. behaviours more di icult and therefore less likely, or encourage behaviours that and strategy in many sectors, it di ers from behavioural sciences, which provides behavioural change, such as cognitive biases, and the opportunities to leverage go against people's intentions. an interpretationan interpretation of data through of data the through lens of the psychological lens of psychological concepts. concepts. Whereas Whereas psychological principles to overcome them. Research has begun to apply behavioural theories to decision-making within data sciences can be used e ectively to forecast future results based on past public relations. For example, cognitive biases can help explain why crisis commu- When discussing the ethics of nudges, Sunstein argues that choice architecture is trends, behaviouraltrends, behavioural sciences provides sciences theprovides understanding the understanding to change to behavioural change behavioural Based on these opportunities, potential techniques for behavioural change, like nicators sometimes choose short-sighted and suboptimal responses, despite always present - any way choices are presented can influence the outcomes. In essence, behavioural insights are oen a means for acting on the nudges, are considered and developed further in the design stage. awareness and plans for better approaches (Claeys & Coombs, 2019). As a result of decision-making process (2015). The central purpose of nudging, as Thaler and findings thatfindings emerge that from emerge data from analyses. data analyses. time constraints and stress, communicators oen rely on intuition, which can be Sunstein have described it, should be to help people make better decisions. Once an intervention is designed, it needs to be rigorously tested to examine biased by loss aversion and a focus on short-term outcomes over long-term ones. Transparency and maintaining people's agency is paramount. People may not These twoThese fields two are fieldstightly are intertwined tightly intertwined through the through importance the importance of empirical of empirical whether or not it is e ective in the real world. Using pilot studies, interventions By trying to mitigate immediate reputational damage, instead of looking at the always agree on whether the behaviours being nudged are better, but they should methods. methods.Data science Data contributes science contributes to both the to study both theof behavioural study of behavioural sciences and sciences and can be tested with samples of the target audience. Developing implementations big picture, they ignore evidence-based best practices. always have the freedom to choose or scrutinize the nudge application. their application.their application. of behavioural insights is an iterative process, so the results of the testing are used to further refine or reorient the design before scaling up. Moving forward, public relations can begin to establish guidelines, standards, and Ethical considerations also need to be kept in mind during the development Within theWithin developmental the developmental process of process behavioural of behavioural interventions, interventions, data science data science practices for incorporating behavioural insights research. process of behavioural insights interventions. The collection, analysis, and supports thesupports research the needed research to needed define andto define diagnose and diagnosethe problem. the problem.It is also It is also Behavioural economics is one area within behavioural sciences that examines the Nudges are an example of behavioural insights, the application of behavioural psychological underpinnings of behaviour within the context of economic science understandings to real-world problems. The term originated with the UK's decisions. Critically, it examines why people don't always behave according to Behavioural Insights Team, which was one of the first groups established to apply predictions of classical economic models, which suggest behaviour should be nudge theory to public policy. An important theory in behavioural sciences is the dual process model of rational, self-interested, and based on evaluations of utilities, costs, and probabilities. Concepts like dual processing, heuristics, and cognitive biases help behaviour. According to psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman in explain why reality oen deviates from economic theory, as observed naturally Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), this model breaks decision-making into two and in experimental settings. distinct processes - System 1, which is fast, easy, and unconscious, and System 2, which is slow, e ortful, and deliberate (Kahneman, 2011). Most decisions people make fall under the System 1 category.

System 1 saves us time and energy by making behaviour automatic and unconscious, while System 2 enables us to carefully evaluate all the available information to make rational decisions. Both systems are important in the Behavioural science aims to understand human behaviour decision-making process to respond to di erent circumstances based on the and decision-making. It encompasses disciplines examining amount of motivation, time, and energy that we have. the psychological underpinnings of behaviour, such as In the late 20th century, researchers Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky exam- ined how heuristics could lead to irrational decisions in uncertain situations and cognition, neuroscience and social psychology, and how developed cognitive models for behaviour that di ered from those in the field of Governments recognized the potential to apply behavioural economics to they intersect with fields involving behaviour, like economics. Based on this research, economist Richard Thaler further developed encourage behaviours like compliance for tax and fine payments, without having economics, politics, and communication. the notion that humans are not rational beings and oen behave counter to to introduce more restrictive laws and regulations (Behavioural Insights Team, 2014 ). classical economic theory. Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein went on to Other sectors have since introduced nudges and other behavioural insights, like propose that behavioural economics could be applied to influence behaviour narrative persuasion , to account for the complexity of human behaviour and be By taking an interdisciplinary approach, behavioural through what they referred to as nudges (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009). more successful at influencing it. Findings from behavioural sciences like scientists incorporate multiple facets of behaviour with psychology have long been applied to solve real-world problems. However, the rigorous empirical methods to develop a more complete Nudges are small interventions that encourage particular behaviours without the rise of behavioural insights embraces not only the concepts and theories picture of why we act the way we do. use of financial incentives or infringing on people's autonomy. To maintain peo- established by research, but also the rigorous empirical and iterative methods. ple's freedom to make their own decision (also known as libertarian paternalism), System 1 uses mental shortcuts, known as heuristics, which are e ective and choices are not limited. Instead, nudges change the environment that decisions A defining feature of behavioural insights application today is the evidence-based e icient most of the time. However, they also can lead to systematic and are made in, such as the ways choices or information are presented, commonly approach to creating interventions to influence behaviour. The spirit of referred to as the choice architecture, to align unconscious and instinctive experimentation and empirical rigor respects the complexity of human behaviour. predictable errors, known as cognitive biases. Examinations of these heuristics behaviours with desirable outcomes. The goal of nudges is make decision-making Research and testing inform the entire developmental process to ensure that and biases paved the way for the field of behavioural economics, where easier by leveraging the cognitive biases that would otherwise lead people to act strategies are appropriate and e ective. psychology research has been used to revise understandings of economic behaviour. irrationally, against their own intentions or best interests.

When people think about behavioural insights, they oen think of randomized control trials (RCTs). In an RCT, randomly assigned control and treatment groups storage of behavioural data should be transparent and respect peoples' privacy critical forcritical the evaluation for the evaluation of interventions. of interventions. Using tools Using from tools data from science data makes science it makes it are compared to determine an intervention's impact. They are a valuable tool Communications can fail if they fail to recognize that human behaviour is greatly Any attempt to influence others' behaviours warrants serious ethical and agency. Employing an iterative evaluation process ensures that unintended easier to conduct tests on multiple iterations of an intervention with di erent because they help establish causality between the intervention and behavioural influenced by unconscious psychological processes in response to both internal considerations, especially when it comes to behavioural insights that act on outcomes are addressed and the benefits of the interventions are substantiated. target audiences.target audiences. As interventions As interventions are implemented are implemented and scaled and up, scaled the ability up, the to ability to change. However, there are many other research methods that are used in the factors like emotion or cognitive strain, and external factors like the environment. unconscious decision-making processes. Public relations professionals need to be process complexprocess and complex larger and data larger sets, data commonly sets, commonly referred to referred as "big todata", as "big enables data", enables development of interventions, such as surveys, interviews, field observations, A/B Behavioural insights provide communicators with tools enhance the impact of aware of the potential for misuse, which is not only unethical, but also threatens Behavioural insights in public relations should conform to the ethical and the e icient evaluation of outcomes. testing, and quasi-experiments. their work by applying more realistic models of human behaviour built upon reputation and the trust established with publics. professional standards of the practice. While the concept of behavioural insights decades of psychological research. may be new, the strategies that emerge from them have been used by The growthThe of growth data science of data through science machine through learningmachine and learning advanced and advanced algorithms algorithms One example of how the development of behavioural insights can be approached In particular, the rise in popularity of nudges has prompted criticism that they can communicators for a long time, both within and outside of the public relations changes thechanges landscape the landscape of behavioural of behavioural sciences and sciences creates and new creates opportunities new opportunities for for is the following four stage process: Many of the strategies from behavioural insights are already part of the public be manipulative and used to lead people to undesired desired behaviour. Thaler industry. The study of behavioural sciences provides an understanding of how applying behaviouralapplying behavioural insights in insights the real in world. the real world. relations repertoire. However, the behavioural sciences now provide the empirical outlined three guiding principles in their work on nudges to ensure that they are di erent communication strategies work on a psychological level. In doing so, it evidence and frameworks for understanding why they work. Grounding these designed to be beneficial for everyone (2015): provides us with opportunities to make our work more e ective and prompts us strategies within the study of behavioural sciences helps public relations profes- to reflect on the ethical implications. sionals recognize the impact of cognitive biases and learn to mitigate them or use them to their advantage. It also emphasizes the importance of rigorously testing ideas and using evidence to inform and revise strategies. This critical thinking approach can help public relations evaluate assumptions and become more e ective in this ever-changing business environment. Data science is the scientific analysis of data to understand a particular topic and incorporate a wide range of disciplines like statistics and computer science. It In this method, the first step is to define the problem, understanding the broader The introduction of behavioural insights to public relations has been relatively allows us to observe patterns and trends in data using sophisticated analytical context it exists in and establishing goals for the intervention, specifically the new, compared to other sectors like public policy or marketing. However, it holds tools that we may not see otherwise. desired behavioural outcomes and how they can be measured. great promise for the future. In addition to interventions that improve the When nudges violate these principles, they are oen referred to as sludge (Thaler, behavioural impact of communication strategies and campaigns, behavioural 2018). Instead of helping people make better decisions, they make desirable While data science is oen employed to analyze behavioural data to inform policy A diagnosis of the situation then identifies the challenges to the intended insights can be applied to how we think about our profession. behaviours more di icult and therefore less likely, or encourage behaviours that and strategy in many sectors, it di ers from behavioural sciences, which provides behavioural change, such as cognitive biases, and the opportunities to leverage go against people's intentions. an interpretation of data through the lens of psychological concepts. Whereas psychological principles to overcome them. Research has begun to apply behavioural theories to decision-making within data sciences can be used e ectively to forecast future results based on past public relations. For example, cognitive biases can help explain why crisis commu- When discussing the ethics of nudges, Sunstein argues that choice architecture is trends, behavioural sciences provides the understanding to change behavioural Based on these opportunities, potential techniques for behavioural change, like nicators sometimes choose short-sighted and suboptimal responses, despite always present - any way choices are presented can influence the outcomes. In essence, behavioural insights are oen a means for acting on the nudges, are considered and developed further in the design stage. awareness and plans for better approaches (Claeys & Coombs, 2019). As a result of decision-making process (2015). The central purpose of nudging, as Thaler and findings that emerge from data analyses. time constraints and stress, communicators oen rely on intuition, which can be Sunstein have described it, should be to help people make better decisions. Once an intervention is designed, it needs to be rigorously tested to examine biased by loss aversion and a focus on short-term outcomes over long-term ones. Transparency and maintaining people's agency is paramount. People may not These two fields are tightly intertwined through the importance of empirical whether or not it is e ective in the real world. Using pilot studies, interventions By trying to mitigate immediate reputational damage, instead of looking at the always agree on whether the behaviours being nudged are better, but they should methods. Data science contributes to both the study of behavioural sciences and can be tested with samples of the target audience. Developing implementations big picture, they ignore evidence-based best practices. always have the freedom to choose or scrutinize the nudge application. their application. of behavioural insights is an iterative process, so the results of the testing are used to further refine or reorient the design before scaling up. Moving forward, public relations can begin to establish guidelines, standards, and Ethical considerations also need to be kept in mind during the development Within the developmental process of behavioural interventions, data science practices for incorporating behavioural insights research. process of behavioural insights interventions. The collection, analysis, and supports the research needed to define and diagnose the problem. It is also Behavioural economics is one area within behavioural sciences that examines the Nudges are an example of behavioural insights, the application of behavioural psychological underpinnings of behaviour within the context of economic science understandings to real-world problems. The term originated with the UK's decisions. Critically, it examines why people don't always behave according to Behavioural Insights Team, which was one of the first groups established to apply predictions of classical economic models, which suggest behaviour should be nudge theory to public policy. An important theory in behavioural sciences is the dual process model of rational, self-interested, and based on evaluations of utilities, costs, and probabilities. Concepts like dual processing, heuristics, and cognitive biases help behaviour. According to psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman in explain why reality oen deviates from economic theory, as observed naturally Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), this model breaks decision-making into two and in experimental settings. distinct processes - System 1, which is fast, easy, and unconscious, and System 2, which is slow, e ortful, and deliberate (Kahneman, 2011). Most decisions people make fall under the System 1 category.

System 1 saves us time and energy by making behaviour automatic and unconscious, while System 2 enables us to carefully evaluate all the available information to make rational decisions. Both systems are important in the Behavioural science aims to understand human behaviour decision-making process to respond to di erent circumstances based on the and decision-making. It encompasses disciplines examining amount of motivation, time, and energy that we have. the psychological underpinnings of behaviour, such as In the late 20th century, researchers Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky exam- ined how heuristics could lead to irrational decisions in uncertain situations and cognition, neuroscience and social psychology, and how developed cognitive models for behaviour that di ered from those in the field of Governments recognized the potential to apply behavioural economics to they intersect with fields involving behaviour, like economics. Based on this research, economist Richard Thaler further developed encourage behaviours like compliance for tax and fine payments, without having economics, politics, and communication. the notion that humans are not rational beings and oen behave counter to to introduce more restrictive laws and regulations (Behavioural Insights Team, 2014 ). classical economic theory. Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein went on to Other sectors have since introduced nudges and other behavioural insights, like propose that behavioural economics could be applied to influence behaviour narrative persuasion , to account for the complexity of human behaviour and be By taking an interdisciplinary approach, behavioural through what they referred to as nudges (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009). more successful at influencing it. Findings from behavioural sciences like scientists incorporate multiple facets of behaviour with psychology have long been applied to solve real-world problems. However, the rigorous empirical methods to develop a more complete Nudges are small interventions that encourage particular behaviours without the rise of behavioural insights embraces not only the concepts and theories picture of why we act the way we do. use of financial incentives or infringing on people's autonomy. To maintain peo- established by research, but also the rigorous empirical and iterative methods. ple's freedom to make their own decision (also known as libertarian paternalism), System 1 uses mental shortcuts, known as heuristics, which are e ective and choices are not limited. Instead, nudges change the environment that decisions A defining feature of behavioural insights application today is the evidence-based e icient most of the time. However, they also can lead to systematic and are made in, such as the ways choices or information are presented, commonly approach to creating interventions to influence behaviour. The spirit of referred to as the choice architecture, to align unconscious and instinctive experimentation and empirical rigor respects the complexity of human behaviour. predictable errors, known as cognitive biases. Examinations of these heuristics behaviours with desirable outcomes. The goal of nudges is make decision-making Research and testing inform the entire developmental process to ensure that and biases paved the way for the field of behavioural economics, where easier by leveraging the cognitive biases that would otherwise lead people to act strategies are appropriate and e ective. psychology research has been used to revise understandings of economic behaviour. irrationally, against their own intentions or best interests.

When people think about behavioural insights, they oen think of randomized control trials (RCTs). In an RCT, randomly assigned control and treatment groups storage of behavioural data should be transparent and respect peoples' privacy critical for the evaluation of interventions. Using tools from data science makes it are compared to determine an intervention's impact. They are a valuable tool Communications can fail if they fail to recognize that human behaviour is greatly Any attempt to influence others' behaviours warrants serious ethical and agency. Employing an iterative evaluation process ensures that unintended easier to conduct tests on multiple iterations of an intervention with di erent because they help establish causality between the intervention and behavioural influenced by unconscious psychological processes in response to both internal considerations, especially when it comes to behavioural insights that act on outcomes are addressed and the benefits of the interventions are substantiated. target audiences. As interventions are implemented and scaled up, the ability to change. However, there are many other research methods that are used in the factors like emotion or cognitive strain, and external factors like the environment. unconscious decision-making processes. Public relations professionals need to be process complex and larger data sets, commonly referred to as "big data", enables development of interventions, such as surveys, interviews, field observations, A/B Behavioural insights provide communicators with tools enhance the impact of aware of the potential for misuse, which is not only unethical, but also threatens Behavioural insights in public relations should conform to the ethical and the e icient evaluation of outcomes. testing, and quasi-experiments. their work by applying more realistic models of human behaviour built upon reputation and the trust established with publics. professional standards of the practice. While the concept of behavioural insights decades of psychological research. may be new, the strategies that emerge from them have been used by The growth of data science through machine learning and advanced algorithms One example of how the development of behavioural insights can be approached In particular, the rise in popularity of nudges has prompted criticism that they can communicators for a long time, both within and outside of the public relations changes the landscape of behavioural sciences and creates new opportunities for is the following four stage process: Many of the strategies from behavioural insights are already part of the public be manipulative and used to lead people to undesired desired behaviour. Thaler industry. The study of behavioural sciences provides an understanding of how applying behavioural insights in the real world. relations repertoire. However, the behavioural sciences now provide the empirical outlined three guiding principles in their work on nudges to ensure that they are di erent communication strategies work on a psychological level. In doing so, it evidence and frameworks for understanding why they work. Grounding these designed to be beneficial for everyone (2015): provides us with opportunities to make our work more e ective and prompts us strategies within the study of behavioural sciences helps public relations profes- to reflect on the ethical implications. sionals recognize the impact of cognitive biases and learn to mitigate them or use them to their advantage. It also emphasizes the importance of rigorously testing ideas and using evidence to inform and revise strategies. This critical thinking approach can help public relations evaluate assumptions and become more e ective in this ever-changing business environment. Data science is the scientific analysis of data to understand a particular topic and incorporate a wide range of disciplines like statistics and computer science. It In this method, the first step is to define the problem, understanding the broader The introduction of behavioural insights to public relations has been relatively allows us to observe patterns and trends in data using sophisticated analytical context it exists in and establishing goals for the intervention, specifically the new, compared to other sectors like public policy or marketing. However, it holds tools that we may not see otherwise. desired behavioural outcomes and how they can be measured. great promise for the future. In addition to interventions that improve the When nudges violate these principles, they are oen referred to as sludge (Thaler, behavioural impact of communication strategies and campaigns, behavioural 2018). Instead of helping people make better decisions, they make desirable While data science is oen employed to analyze behavioural data to inform policy A diagnosis of the situation then identifies the challenges to the intended insights can be applied to how we think about our profession. behaviours more di icult and therefore less likely, or encourage behaviours that and strategy in many sectors, it di ers from behavioural sciences, which provides behavioural change, such as cognitive biases, and the opportunities to leverage go against people's intentions. an interpretation of data through the lens of psychological concepts. Whereas psychological principles to overcome them. Research has begun to apply behavioural theories to decision-making within data sciences can be used e ectively to forecast future results based on past public relations. For example, cognitive biases can help explain why crisis commu- When discussing the ethics of nudges, Sunstein argues that choice architecture is trends, behavioural sciences provides the understanding to change behavioural Based on these opportunities, potential techniques for behavioural change, like nicators sometimes choose short-sighted and suboptimal responses, despite always present - any way choices are presented can influence the outcomes. In essence, behavioural insights are oen a means for acting on the nudges, are considered and developed further in the design stage. awareness and plans for better approaches (Claeys & Coombs, 2019). As a result of decision-making process (2015). The central purpose of nudging, as Thaler and findings that emerge from data analyses. time constraints and stress, communicators oen rely on intuition, which can be Sunstein have described it, should be to help people make better decisions. Once an intervention is designed, it needs to be rigorously tested to examine biased by loss aversion and a focus on short-term outcomes over long-term ones. Transparency and maintaining people's agency is paramount. People may not These two fields are tightly intertwined through the importance of empirical whether or not it is e ective in the real world. Using pilot studies, interventions By trying to mitigate immediate reputational damage, instead of looking at the always agree on whether the behaviours being nudged are better, but they should methods. Data science contributes to both the study of behavioural sciences and can be tested with samples of the target audience. Developing implementations big picture, they ignore evidence-based best practices. always have the freedom to choose or scrutinize the nudge application. their application. of behavioural insights is an iterative process, so the results of the testing are used to further refine or reorient the design before scaling up. Moving forward, public relations can begin to establish guidelines, standards, and Ethical considerations also need to be kept in mind during the development Within the developmental process of behavioural interventions, data science practices for incorporating behavioural insights research. process of behavioural insights interventions. The collection, analysis, and supports the research needed to define and diagnose the problem. It is also

REFERENCES Behavioural economics is one area within behavioural sciences that examines the Nudges are an example of behavioural insights, the application of behavioural psychological underpinnings of behaviour within the context of economic science understandings to real-world problems. The term originated with the UK's decisions. Critically, it examines why people don't always behave according to Behavioural Insights Team, which was one of the first groups established to apply predictions of classical economic models, which suggest behaviour should be nudge theory to public policy. An important theory in behavioural sciences is the dual process model of rational, self-interested, and based on evaluations of utilities, costs, and probabilities. Concepts like dual processing, heuristics, and cognitive biases help behaviour. According to psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman in explain why reality oen deviates from economic theory, as observed naturally Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), this model breaks decision-making into two and in experimental settings. distinct processes - System 1, which is fast, easy, and unconscious, and System 2, which is slow, e ortful, and deliberate (Kahneman, 2011). Most decisions people make fall under the System 1 category.

System 1 saves us time and energy by making behaviour automatic and unconscious, while System 2 enables us to carefully evaluate all the available information to make rational decisions. Both systems are important in the Behavioural science aims to understand human behaviour decision-making process to respond to di erent circumstances based on the and decision-making. It encompasses disciplines examining amount of motivation, time, and energy that we have. the psychological underpinnings of behaviour, such as In the late 20th century, researchers Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky exam- ined how heuristics could lead to irrational decisions in uncertain situations and cognition, neuroscience and social psychology, and how developed cognitive models for behaviour that di ered from those in the field of Governments recognized the potential to apply behavioural economics to they intersect with fields involving behaviour, like economics. Based on this research, economist Richard Thaler further developed encourage behaviours like compliance for tax and fine payments, without having economics, politics, and communication. the notion that humans are not rational beings and oen behave counter to to introduce more restrictive laws and regulations (Behavioural Insights Team, 2014 ). classical economic theory. Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein went on to Other sectors have since introduced nudges and other behavioural insights, like propose that behavioural economics could be applied to influence behaviour narrative persuasion , to account for the complexity of human behaviour and be By taking an interdisciplinary approach, behavioural through what they referred to as nudges (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009). more successful at influencing it. Findings from behavioural sciences like scientists incorporate multiple facets of behaviour with psychology have long been applied to solve real-world problems. However, the rigorous empirical methods to develop a more complete Nudges are small interventions that encourage particular behaviours without the rise of behavioural insights embraces not only the concepts and theories picture of why we act the way we do. use of financial incentives or infringing on people's autonomy. To maintain peo- established by research, but also the rigorous empirical and iterative methods. ple's freedom to make their own decision (also known as libertarian paternalism), System 1 uses mental shortcuts, known as heuristics, which are e ective and choices are not limited. Instead, nudges change the environment that decisions A defining feature of behavioural insights application today is the evidence-based e icient most of the time. However, they also can lead to systematic and are made in, such as the ways choices or information are presented, commonly approach to creating interventions to influence behaviour. The spirit of referred to as the choice architecture, to align unconscious and instinctive experimentation and empirical rigor respects the complexity of human behaviour. predictable errors, known as cognitive biases. Examinations of these heuristics behaviours with desirable outcomes. The goal of nudges is make decision-making Research and testing inform the entire developmental process to ensure that and biases paved the way for the field of behavioural economics, where easier by leveraging the cognitive biases that would otherwise lead people to act strategies are appropriate and e ective. psychology research has been used to revise understandings of economic behaviour. irrationally, against their own intentions or best interests.

When people think about behavioural insights, they oen think of randomized control trials (RCTs). In an RCT, randomly assigned control and treatment groups storage of behavioural data should be transparent and respect peoples' privacy critical for the evaluation of interventions. Using tools from data science makes it are compared to determine an intervention's impact. They are a valuable tool Communications can fail if they fail to recognize that human behaviour is greatly Any attempt to influence others' behaviours warrants serious ethical and agency. Employing an iterative evaluation process ensures that unintended easier to conduct tests on multiple iterations of an intervention with di erent because they help establish causality between the intervention and behavioural influenced by unconscious psychological processes in response to both internal considerations, especially when it comes to behavioural insights that act on outcomes are addressed and the benefits of the interventions are substantiated. target audiences. As interventions are implemented and scaled up, the ability to change. However, there are many other research methods that are used in the factors like emotion or cognitive strain, and external factors like the environment. unconscious decision-making processes. Public relations professionals need to be process complex and larger data sets, commonly referred to as "big data", enables development of interventions, such as surveys, interviews, field observations, A/B Behavioural insights provide communicators with tools enhance the impact of aware of the potential for misuse, which is not only unethical, but also threatens Behavioural insights in public relations should conform to the ethical and the e icient evaluation of outcomes. testing, and quasi-experiments. their work by applying more realistic models of human behaviour built upon reputation and the trust established with publics. professional standards of the practice. While the concept of behavioural insights decades of psychological research. may be new, the strategies that emerge from them have been used by The growth of data science through machine learning and advanced algorithms One example of how the development of behavioural insights can be approached In particular, the rise in popularity of nudges has prompted criticism that they can communicators for a long time, both within and outside of the public relations changes the landscape of behavioural sciences and creates new opportunities for is the following four stage process: Many of the strategies from behavioural insights are already part of the public be manipulative and used to lead people to undesired desired behaviour. Thaler industry. The study of behavioural sciences provides an understanding of how applying behavioural insights in the real world. relations repertoire. However, the behavioural sciences now provide the empirical outlined three guiding principles in their work on nudges to ensure that they are di erent communication strategies work on a psychological level. In doing so, it evidence and frameworks for understanding why they work. Grounding these designed to be beneficial for everyone (2015): provides us with opportunities to make our work more e ective and prompts us strategies within the study of behavioural sciences helps public relations profes- to reflect on the ethical implications. sionals recognize the impact of cognitive biases and learn to mitigate them or use them to their advantage. It also emphasizes the importance of rigorously testing ideas and using evidence to inform and revise strategies. This critical thinking approach can help public relations evaluate assumptions and become more e ective in this ever-changing business environment. Data science is the scientific analysis of data to understand a particular topic and incorporate a wide range of disciplines like statistics and computer science. It In this method, the first step is to define the problem, understanding the broader The introduction of behavioural insights to public relations has been relatively allows us to observe patterns and trends in data using sophisticated analytical context it exists in and establishing goals for the intervention, specifically the new, compared to other sectors like public policy or marketing. However, it holds tools that we may not see otherwise. desired behavioural outcomes and how they can be measured. great promise for the future. In addition to interventions that improve the When nudges violate these principles, they are oen referred to as sludge (Thaler, behavioural impact of communication strategies and campaigns, behavioural 2018). Instead of helping people make better decisions, they make desirable While data science is oen employed to analyze behavioural data to inform policy A diagnosis of the situation then identifies the challenges to the intended insights can be applied to how we think about our profession. behaviours more di icult and therefore less likely, or encourage behaviours that and strategy in many sectors, it di ers from behavioural sciences, which provides behavioural change, such as cognitive biases, and the opportunities to leverage go against people's intentions. an interpretation of data through the lens of psychological concepts. Whereas psychological principles to overcome them. Research has begun to apply behavioural theories to decision-making within data sciences can be used e ectively to forecast future results based on past public relations. For example, cognitive biases can help explain why crisis commu- When discussing the ethics of nudges, Sunstein argues that choice architecture is trends, behavioural sciences provides the understanding to change behavioural Based on these opportunities, potential techniques for behavioural change, like nicators sometimes choose short-sighted and suboptimal responses, despite always present - any way choices are presented can influence the outcomes. In essence, behavioural insights are oen a means for acting on the nudges, are considered and developed further in the design stage. awareness and plans for better approaches (Claeys & Coombs, 2019). As a result of decision-making process (2015). The central purpose of nudging, as Thaler and findings that emerge from data analyses. time constraints and stress, communicators oen rely on intuition, which can be Sunstein have described it, should be to help people make better decisions. Once an intervention is designed, it needs to be rigorously tested to examine biased by loss aversion and a focus on short-term outcomes over long-term ones. Transparency and maintaining people's agency is paramount. People may not These two fields are tightly intertwined through the importance of empirical whether or not it is e ective in the real world. Using pilot studies, interventions By trying to mitigate immediate reputational damage, instead of looking at the always agree on whether the behaviours being nudged are better, but they should methods. Data science contributes to both the study of behavioural sciences and can be tested with samples of the target audience. Developing implementations big picture, they ignore evidence-based best practices. always have the freedom to choose or scrutinize the nudge application. their application. of behavioural insights is an iterative process, so the results of the testing are used to further refine or reorient the design before scaling up. Moving forward, public relations can begin to establish guidelines, standards, and Ethical considerations also need to be kept in mind during the development Within the developmental process of behavioural interventions, data science practices for incorporating behavioural insights research. process of behavioural insights interventions. The collection, analysis, and supports the research needed to define and diagnose the problem. It is also

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Behavioural Insights Team. (2014). EAST: Four simple ways to apply behavioural insights. Retrieved 7 May 2019, from https://www.bi.team/publica tions/east-four-simple-ways-to-apply-behavioural-insights/

Claeys, A. S., & Coombs, W. T. (2019). Organizational Crisis Communication: Subop timal Crisis Response Selection Decisions and Behavioral Economics.   . https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtz002

Datta, S., & Mullainathan, S. (2014). Behavioral design: a new approach to develop ment policy.      , (1), 7-35. http://dx. doi.org/10.1111/roiw.12093

Kahneman, D. (2011).     . Macmillan.

Sunstein, C. (2015). The Ethics of Nudging.  
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Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2009).           . Penguin.

Thaler, R.H. (2015). The Power of Nudges, for Good and Bad.    . Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/upshot/the-pow er-of-nudges-for-good-and-bad.html

Thaler, R. H. (2018). Nudge, not sludge. , ­(6401), 431-431. https:// doi.org/10.1126/science.aau9241