Introduction to Behavioural Economics

Learn behavioural change and how it effects and improves our chances of commercial success.

All business depends on selling or marketing to human beings. Anything that helps us better understand how and why people make decisions (for example – buying things) must improve our chances of commercial success.

Behavioural Economics offers a more scientifically robust and accessible model for understanding the basis of behaviour change in a fundamentally different way and how to implement it.

The course is an entertaining and lively mixture of collaborative learning, and team exercises and the form of the training will be in line with the principles of Behavioural Economics itself – full of experiments, case histories and even some psychological illusions.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their own stories and examples.

Who would benefit

This course will touch all aspects of business, not just market research and insight: so all those who work in marketing, creative and innovation will benefit from this, as will those in communications development and culture and change management.

In short, it is essential for anyone whose role involves exploring or affecting decision-making in both B2C and B2B.

Objectives

• To explore why the old rational/cognitive model still clings on and the limits of the information-processing and ‘messaging’ models of communication.
• To unveil in its place, the new understanding of the brain with an emphasis on the role of System 1 and System 2 and how they differ.
• To understand the role and importance of engaging the emotions.
• To open up new areas such as priming, norms, heuristics and availability.
• To jointly probe what this means for research, communications, changing consumer (and B2B) behaviour and communication and new product development.

Learning outcomes

• Replace the old ‘faulty, if seductive’ model of the Rational Consumer, with one that is more in line with cutting-edge thinking about the emotional and social triggers that underlie behavioural change.
• This will affect how you make decisions within company culture, across all elements of marketing such as pricing, positioning, creativity, communications and innovation.
• In its place, concepts such as choice architecture, heuristics, anchoring, priming and the effect of other such cognitive biases will be clearly explained and collaboratively applied.
• Specifically, what does it mean for research, insight, brands and communications?

Level
Specialist