The Decision Framing Process In Behavior Choice: Implications for Social Marketing and Communications

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis: Puto’s (1987) model of the buying decision framing process and Rothschild’s (1999) model for the management of public health and social issue behaviors are combined to formulate a new framework to explain the decision making process for public health behaviors and to propose strategies to manage those behaviors. Individuals choose to perform desired behavior based on their commitment to their initial reference point, which is a reflection of their pre-existing motivation, opportunity and ability (MOA). Depending on the individual’s level of commitment, managers can use behaviour change strategies (education, marketing and law) to match or modify individual’s reference point and ultimately increase the attractiveness of the desired behavior. When commitment is high, the behavior strategy can only match the reference point and MOA. When commitment is low, social networks can also influence an individual’s reference point. Managers must evaluate these influences and consequently decide whether to target the individual directly or indirectly through the social network.

Methods and Results (informing the conceptual analysis): N/A

Conclusions: To explain our model, we illustrate an example from the driving after drinking context among young adult men. When the individual is first faced with the social problem, his initial reference point may be negative. That is, he will perceive his options as negative (to drive home drunk or to pay for a cab and leave their vehicle). This negative reference point is a reflection of lower levels of MOA. Motivation may be in the middle because although he doesn’t want to pay for a taxi and leave his vehicle at the bar, he is still aware of the risks of driving after drinking. Opportunity may be low because the individual may perceive that the taxi companies are too busy to pick him up when it’s time to leave. Ability may be low because the person always chose to drink and drive in the past and it is now a habit. Since the levels of MOA in this example are a result of the cost of performing the desired behavior, it is reasonable to posit that commitment to the initial reference point is low. Additionally, if the social network is unsuccessfully pressuring the individual to find another way home, it would be reasonable to posit that behavior strategies would have more influence than the social network. Thus, the appropriate behavior strategy should be one that modifies opportunity and ability. According to Rothschild (1999) that behavior strategy would be a mix of marketing and education. If the appropriate behavior strategy targeted the individual before he made his final decision, then there is a greater chance that the individual would choose the desired behavior and find another way home.

Implications for research and/or practice: The paper proposes a framework that incorporates the factors from traditional social choice models into the decision framing process in order to enhance our understanding of what determines public health and social issue behaviors and how to manage those behaviors.