Environment strategy: behaviour changes needed to achieve Scotland's goals for biodiversity

Appendix D: Behaviour change wheel concept definitions and correspondence

Table D.1: Definitions of intervention functions and policies. Reproduced from Michie et al. (2011).

Interventions - Education

• Definition - Increasing knowledge or understanding
• Examples - Providing information to promote healthy eating

Interventions - Persuasion

• Definition - Using communication to induce positive or negative feelings or stimulate action
• Examples - Using imagery to promote increases in physical activity

Interventions - Incentivisation

• Definition - Creating expectation of reward
• Examples - Using prize draws to induce attempts to stop smoking

Interventions - Coercion

• Definition - Creating expectation of punishment or cost
• Examples - Raising the financial cost to reduce excessive alcohol consumption

Interventions - Training

• Definition - Imparting skills
• Examples - Advanced driver training to enhance to increase safe driving

Interventions - Restriction

• Definition - Using rules to reduce the opportunity to engage in the target behaviour (or to increase the target behaviour by reducing the opportunity to engage in competing behaviours)
• Examples - Prohibiting sales of solvents to people under 18 to reduce use for intoxication

Interventions - Environmental restructuring

• Definition - Changing the physical or social context
• Examples - Providing on-screen prompts for GPs to ask about smoking behaviour

Interventions - Modelling

• Definition - Providing an example for people to aspire to or imitate
• Examples - Using TV drama scenes involving safe-sex practices to increase condom use

Interventions - Enablement

• Definition - Increasing means/reducing barriers to increase capability or opportunity^[10]
• Examples - Behavioural support for smoking cessation, medication for cognitive deficits, surgery to reduce obesity, prostheses to promote physical activity

Policies

Interventions - Communication/marketing

• Definition - Using print, electronic, telephonic or broadcast media
• Examples - Conducting mass media campaigns

Interventions - Guidelines

• Definition - Creating documents that recommend or mandate practice. This includes all changes to service provision
• Examples - Producing and disseminating treatment protocols

Interventions - Fiscal

• Definition - Using the tax system to reduce or increase the financial cost
• Examples - Increasing duty or increasing anti-smuggling activities

Interventions - Regulation

• Definition - Establishing rules or principles of behaviour or practice
• Examples - Establishing voluntary agreements on advertising

Interventions - Legislation

• Definition - Making or changing laws
• Examples - Prohibiting sale or use

Interventions - Environmental/social planning

• Definition - Designing and/or controlling the physical or social environment
• Examples - Using town planning

Interventions - Service provision

• Definition - Delivering a service
• Examples - Establishing support services in workplaces, communities etc.