"Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. And do you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. It's freedom from fear. It's a billboard on the side of a road that screams with reassurance that whatever you're doing is OK. You are OK."
This quote from Mad Men’s Don Draper reminds us that the notion that human decisions are often based on emotion or biases rather than reason is certainly not a new one. Marketers in public bodies have used this insight to drive many of the most influential and important campaigns to change and improve society.
From Lord Kitchener’s ‘Your Country Needs You’ call for recruits in the First World War to campaigns to discourage smoking, tackle drink-driving and promote road safety, Britain is the modern country it is in part because of the influence of behavioural marketing campaigns.
Now, behavioural science including ‘nudge’ techniques are part of the mainstream of economics, organisational strategy and policy-making, as is a ‘what works?’ approach to evidence-led policy.
Whether it is auto-enrolment into pensions or the presumption of consent on organ donation, whole organisational strategies and models are being changed as more is understood about the ‘limitations of reason’. 'Nudge’ pioneer Professor Richard Thaler was awarded this year’s Nobel Prize for Economics for his work on behavioural economics.
Our #PowertotheBump and Working Forward campaigns that have used tested techniques to tackle pregnancy and maternity discrimination and promoting flexible working are nationally recognised. More than 150 organisations have signed up to Working Forward covering 1.3 million employees. We’re already seeing an increase in reporting and changes of workplace practices within organisations as a result.
Like many public bodies or regulators, the Equality and Human Rights Commission relies on a strong evidence base in order to know where and how to act. This week, we are publishing a programme of research as well as our first randomised controlled trials, looking at what influences discriminatory attitudes and behaviours and what we know about ‘what works’ to tackle them.
