Welcome back to another episode of the Behavioral Economics and Marketing Podcast Series. This is Sandra Thomas Commonall. In this episode, we will be discussing intention-action gap on habit change.
But before we get started, I wanted to give a special shout out to this episode’s paid sponsor, BudgetBakers.com and their personal finance manager, Wallet. Available from the Google Play Store and on iOS. Listeners of the Behavioral Economics and Marketing Podcast get a special deal when they download the app from BudgetBakers.com backslash behavior.
So jumping in, what is intention-action gap? The intention-action gap is a social psychology and behavioral economics theory that describes the occurrence of when one’s values, attitudes, or intentions do not correlate with their actions. It is the failure to convert intentions into action and behavior. In other words, it is the difference between what people say they will do and what people actually do.
Intention-action gap has been studied from a multitude of disciplines in a variety of applications and is also known as the value-action gap, intention-behavior gap, attitude-behavior consistency, knowledge-attitudes-practice gap, and is informally referred to as the procrastination zone. It is not very hard to think of examples of the intention-action gap, including diet, exercise, saving money, quitting smoking. Perhaps the most famous example of the intention-action gap is the New Year’s Resolution.
Every year, well-meaning people around the world make resolutions at the beginning of the new year. According to Statista, in 2021, 50% of Americans resolved to do more exercise, while 48% to lose weight, and 44% to save more money. And the list goes on.
Every year, of those who make New Year’s Resolutions, only 75% are still successful in keeping it one week later, and about 35% of all resolution makers actually profess to having kept their resolutions. This is the intention-action gap. So let’s apply this to marketing leadership.
Intention-action gap on habit change. Habit change can be big, such as quitting an addiction, or small, such as skipping that second dessert. It can be personal, such as having better control of your finances, professional, such as being more focused at work, or you may also be interested in nudging your team into small behavioral change.
The bottom line is that we can all become better versions of ourselves, and we should always be striving towards growth. So what are the reasons for the intention-action gap? First things first. You need to understand why the intention-action gap exists for you in this particular circumstance.
The research suggests that there are many internal and external factors that affect behavior and the reasons behind consumer choices. A few of the typical reasons are external variables, such as demographics, attitudes towards intention, cultural beliefs, attitude towards another party that would be affected positively or negatively by the action, and intrinsic personality traits. Behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, motivation, perceived control over the intention or the action, information deficit, or other barriers to behavior.
When surveyed on why New Year’s resolution makers failed at their resolution, the number one response was that they had unrealistic goals. Others didn’t keep track of their progress or simply forgot about their resolutions. So how can we bridge the intention-action gap for habit change? Just as everyone has different reasons for the intention-action gap, and those reasons change for different intentions and in different circumstances, the ways in which habit change will work for you will be different than the next person or different for every habit that you are changing.
And it is important to note that there is not a single behavioral economics theory that has been found to be a silver bullet in habit changing. Further, it is important to note that behavioral economists recognize the difference between breaking an existing habit versus starting a new routine. Nevertheless, all habits proceed through four stages in the same order, cue, craving, response, and reward.
This four-step pattern is the backbone of every habit, and your brain runs through these steps in the same order each time. By turning this on its tail, you can begin to tackle even the hardest problems. So if you are breaking an existing habit, try these.
- Identify your triggers. 2. Disrupt and replace. 3. Keep it simple.
- Incorporate rewards. And 5. Think long-term and persist. For example, several years ago, I wanted to kick the habit of smoking.
I had tried several times, but usually couldn’t make it past the first couple of days. So I identified several of my triggers. I knew that when I smoked, I was often drinking Earl Grey tea.
And when I tried to quit smoking in the past, every time I drank Earl Grey tea, I was triggered to pick up a cigarette. So this time, I eliminated Earl Grey from my menu. I bought an alternative tea.
This simple act allowed me to disrupt and replace that trigger. This was just one of the triggers that I identified and replaced in order to quit smoking. Lastly, I set up a reward system.
And it is important when considering your rewards to not reward yourself with another bad behavior, such as eating fattening foods. In my case, I threw the money saved into a jar over the first couple of weeks and bought myself a nice purse. I’ve now been smoke-free for over 10 years and can safely drink Earl Grey tea without wanting a cigarette.
But what about starting a new routine, such as starting a savings account, exercising regularly, or reading more often? Believe it or not, it’s very similar. Number one, instead of identifying your triggers, set up reminders. This could be as easy as setting a time in your calendar to remind you when to read or exercise.
Or you may choose an app. Nowadays, there are many apps that will help to facilitate habit change. A great example is Wallet by Budget Bakers.
Wallet is your personal finance planner that helps you to save money, plan your budget, and track your spending. Essentially, you become your own finance manager. It connects with over 58,000 banks worldwide and handles any currency using the same level of security as your own bank.
And best of all, they do not sell customer data to anyone. The app is available on Android from the Google Play Store and on iOS from the Apple App Store. Just search for Wallet by Budget Bakers or visit BudgetBakers.com for more information.
And listeners of the Behavioral Economics and Marketing podcast get a special deal when they download the app from BudgetBakers.com backslash behavior. Number two, implementation planning. Once we have set up reminders, we need to plan our implementation.
Researchers have identified two distinct forms of planning, action planning and coping planning. Action planning involves specifying the details of when, where, and how to act in the service of one’s intentions. Coping planning involves identifying how one will cope with potential barriers or obstacles that could get in the way of achieving their goals.
Number three, keep it simple. Getting into the rhythm of a new routine is often more important than the routine itself. You don’t want to get caught in the details.
If you are trying to incorporate exercise into your workday, you may start with taking a walk around your block or lifting some weights. Trying to run to the gym at work might become cumbersome in the short term. Number four, humans love rewards.
Plan rewards into your strategy. Think of something that works for you that isn’t counterproductive to your goals. If you are trying to save more money, you don’t want to reward yourself with spending money.
Likewise, if you are trying to incorporate exercise into your workday, don’t splurge on an unnutritious lunch. Number five, think long term and persist. Without a doubt, there will be days that you want to spend more money or skip the jog, but in habit forming, persistence is key.
Wrapping it up, understanding how we as humans make decisions is an important part of marketing and leadership. Behavioral economics is the study of decision making and can give keen insight into employee behavior and help to shape your leadership style. The intention-action gap is a social psychology and behavioral economics term that describes the occurrence of when one’s values, attitudes, or intentions do not correlate with their actions.
The intention-action gap is often what stands in the way of habit change. In this episode, we discussed simple ways that people can leverage behavioral economics to break an existing habit or start a new routine. If you are enjoying this podcast, give me a shout out, like it, share it, follow it, and review it.
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