A manifesto for applying behavioural science

Abstract

Recent years have seen a rapid increase in the use of behavioural science to address the priorities of public and private sector actors. There is now a vibrant ecosystem of practitioners, teams and academics building on each other’s findings across the globe. Their focus on robust evaluation means we know that this work has had an impact on important issues such as antimicrobial resistance, educational attainment and climate change. However, several critiques have also emerged; taken together, they suggest that applied behavioural science needs to evolve further over its next decade. This manifesto for the future of applied behavioural science looks at the challenges facing the field and sets out ten proposals to address them. Meeting these challenges will mean that behavioural science is better equipped to help to build policies, products and services on stronger empirical foundations—and thereby address the world’s crucial challenges.