MINDSPACE: a toolkit for Change Makers

In this article, you’ll learn how to leverage the MINDSPACE framework to design behavioural interventions, influence decision-making, and spark transformational change in your organization.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• What MINDSPACE is and how it influences behavior through nine core techniques.

• How to apply the MINDSPACE framework to design interventions that create lasting change.

• Practical examples of how these techniques can be used to influence team behaviors, customer actions, and organizational policies.

Introduction: MINDSPACE and Its Role in behavioural Change

As a Senior Change Maker, your job is to lead transformational change in a world where human behaviour can be complex and unpredictable. How can you engage both System 1 (automatic, intuitive thinking) and System 2 (reflective, rational thinking) effectively to influence behaviours that drive organizational success?

Enter MINDSPACE, a behavioural change toolkit developed by behavioural experts to influence behaviour in automatic and non-conscious ways. This framework helps leaders design interventions that not only resonate with people’s reflective minds but also engage their automatic responses, creating deeper, lasting change.

The beauty of MINDSPACE is that it brings together evidence-backed principles from psychology and behavioural science, making it applicable across various domains—from business to policy, marketing, healthcare, and more.

MINDSPACE stands for Messenger, Incentives, Norms, Defaults, Salience, Priming, Affect, Commitments, and Ego. Each technique taps into different psychological drivers that can be used to influence decisions and behaviours—whether you’re motivating customers to act, encouraging teams to adopt new practices, or designing policies for societal change.

Messenger: Trust in Who Delivers the Message

We are more influenced by who communicates information than by the content of the message itself. This is why leaders, managers, or peers with similar values or high authority can be powerful messengers.

• Application: In your change initiatives, ensure the message is delivered by someone who resonates with the audience. A trusted, credible leader or peer will carry more influence than an outsider.

• Example: A sales team is more likely to respond to change if the message comes from a respected peer who has successfully implemented the new strategy.

Incentives: Tap Into Mental Shortcuts

People’s responses to incentives are shaped by mental shortcuts like loss aversion (the tendency to strongly prefer avoiding losses over acquiring gains) and immediacy (a preference for immediate rewards over future benefits).

• Application: Structure incentives to focus on immediate rewards and highlight potential losses. For example, offering small, immediate rewards can motivate teams more effectively than promises of future benefits.

• Example: Introduce a system where employees earn rewards immediately for hitting weekly targets, rather than waiting for end-of-quarter bonuses.

Norms: Leveraging Social Influence

We are heavily influenced by what others are doing. Telling people that most others have already adopted a behaviour can encourage them to do the same.

• Application: Use social norms to motivate teams by emphasizing how their peers are successfully adapting to changes. Show them that the majority is already on board.

• Example: In a tax repayment initiative, telling people that "90% of your neighbors have already paid their taxes" significantly increased repayment rates.

Defaults: The Power of Inertia

People tend to go with default options, making it a powerful behavioural change tool. When people are automatically enrolled in programs, they rarely opt out.

• Application: Set beneficial behaviours as the default option in your change initiatives. For example, automatically enroll employees in wellness programs, with an option to opt-out, rather than requiring them to opt-in.

• Example: In Sweden, 92% of citizens stuck with a default pension plan despite a national campaign encouraging them to make an active choice from 456 investment options.

Salience: Drawing Attention to What Matters

People are more likely to pay attention to novel, simple, and personally relevant information. Make sure your message stands out and is easy to understand.

• Application: Highlight key messages by making them visually or contextually distinct. Simplify complex ideas so they’re easier to grasp.

• Example: In marketing campaigns, emphasize clear, bold calls-to-action and use language that reflects customers' personal experiences.

Priming: Subtle Environmental Cues

Priming refers to the way subconscious cues—like words, sounds, or smells—can trigger behaviour. Even subtle environmental changes can influence decisions without people being aware.

• Application: Use sensory triggers to prime desired behaviours in the workplace or customer interactions. For instance, the smell of fresh citrus can subconsciously encourage cleanliness and hygiene.

• Example: In a study, introducing a citrus scent in hospitals significantly increased the number of people using hand sanitizers without them realizing the smell was influencing their behaviour.

Affect: The Role of Emotions in Decision-Making

Our emotions have a powerful impact on our behaviour. Decisions often come down to how we feel, not just what we know.

• Application: Use emotional triggers to influence behaviour. Emotional appeals—whether it’s humor, fear, or sadness—can move people to take action.

• Example: Graphic images on cigarette packs that evoke fear and disgust have been shown to be highly effective in reducing smoking rates.

Commitments: Leveraging Public Promises

We strive to be consistent with our public promises. Once we’ve made a commitment, we are more likely to follow through to avoid looking unreliable or inconsistent.

• Application: Encourage public commitments. When people state their goals publicly, they are more likely to achieve them.

• Example: A company might ask employees to make public wellness commitments, such as pledging to walk 10,000 steps a day. Once shared with colleagues, the likelihood of sticking to the commitment increases.

Ego: Aligning Actions with Self-Image

People behave in ways that help them maintain a positive self-image. When we feel good about ourselves, we are more motivated to engage in behaviours that align with that image.

• Application: Reinforce positive behaviours by linking them to self-esteem. For example, frame messages in a way that boosts people’s self-image and makes them feel good about their choices.

• Example: Campaigns encouraging the use of sunscreen often show images of aging skin, appealing to people’s desire to maintain their youthful appearance, which is more effective than warnings about skin cancer.