When we talk about motivating behavior change, we tell people that\u00a0simply making them aware of something rarely drives them to that behavior.<\/p>\n
They usually need a triggering event \u2013 whether it is naturally occurring, like a\u00a0time of year or an anniversary \u2013 or \u201cmanufactured\u201d \u2013 something the\u00a0organization does \u2013 to gently push stakeholders toward a behavior. The\u00a0possible exception to this is advertising during the holidays, when people are\u00a0already poised and ready to deliver the ultimate desired behavior in a retailer\u2019s
\neyes\u2026buying merchandise!<\/p>\n
Even with the naturally occurring triggering event of the holidays, though,\u00a0companies are creating \u201cmanufactured triggering events\u201d to drive behavior\u00a0in the form of sales, coupons, emails, apps that entitle the shopper to discounts\u00a0etc. Once they get you into the store to purchase what you came for, of course,\u00a0their ultimate desired behavior is that you make some spontaneous additional\u00a0purchases of cool stuff that catches your eye.<\/p>\n
New Years as a triggering event? Everyone in the personal training\/fitness\u00a0facility world knows that New Years is the perfect triggering event for signing\u00a0people up for health and fitness programs\u2026since they have probably just made\u00a0a New Year\u2019s resolution to lose weight, train for a specific event or just lead a
\nhealthier lifestyle. \u00a0 (Personally, I try to avoid going to the gym at peak hours during January \u00a0because it is packed! I wait until February to resume my normal routine, \u00a0knowing that even the best-intentioned folks will have trouble sticking to their\u00a0newly-adopted behavior without some positive reinforcement to keep them
\ngoing).<\/p>\n
In our business, the New Year is a triggering event for our clients to finalize\u00a0budgets, conduct strategic planning and re-evaluate their activities from the\u00a0past year \u2026 what\u2019s been working and what hasn\u2019t?<\/p>\n
This is the time of year that we like to remind them how JJ&W can be helpful\u00a0in many areas beyond our crisis communication work\u2026including (but not\u00a0limited to) research, strategic planning and employee communications. The\u00a0intermediate behavior we want is for them to think of us when they have a\u00a0need for public relations or management consulting services\u2026the ultimate\u00a0desired behavior is that they call us to help them on \u00a0whatever problem or issue
\nthey are about to tackle.<\/p>\n
The question for you is: As we enter the New Year, what are the triggering\u00a0events to get YOU to move YOUR key stakeholders toward specific desired\u00a0behaviors?<\/p>\n
Robin Schell\/rschell@jjwpr.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When we talk about motivating behavior change, we tell people that\u00a0simply making them aware of something rarely drives them to that behavior. They usually need a triggering event \u2013 whether it is naturally occurring, like a\u00a0time of year or an anniversary \u2013 or \u201cmanufactured\u201d \u2013 something the\u00a0organization does \u2013 to gently push stakeholders toward a … <\/p>\n