Behavioral Concepts | Financial Wellbeing Design Guide

Active choice

Encouraging decision makers to make active selections between options by removing defaults.

Anchoring

People’s judgments are skewed by initial estimates

Cognitive overload

People become overwhelmed when too much information or stimulus is presented to them.

Default bias

People pick the easiest option to avoid complex decisions. Defaults provide a cognitive shortcut and signal what people are supposed to do.

Descriptive social norms

Influence on one's behavior by sharing information on what most people actually do

Ego Appeal

People tend to resonate with communication strategies that flatter their self-esteem or vanity.

Empathy gap

People underestimate how varying mental states influence their behavior.

Endowment effect

People overvalue what they own.

Framing

People's decisions are based on how information is presented to them.

Fresh start effect

People are motivated to pursue their goals at the start of a new milestone.

Friction

Anything that acts as a barrier when attempting to perform an action.

Goal-gradient theory

People tend to have higher motivation as they approach goal completion.

Halo effect

People leverage one positive trait of a person, product, or company to inform their impression of other traits.

Illusion of control

People believe they can control outcomes that are beyond their control.

Information avoidance

People actively avoid information that conflicts with their own beliefs.

Injunctive social norms

Influence on one's behavior according to perceived approval/disapproval of others.

Intention-action gap

The disconnect between one's intention and their behavior.

Loss aversion

People tend to feel the pain of losses more significantly than the pleasure of equivalent gains.

Mental accounting

People categorize and treat money differently depending on where it came from and where it is going.

Mental models

A thought process used to understand a situation.

Mere exposure effect

People prefer an option that they are familiar with.

Planning fallacy

People consistently underestimate how long things will take and how many resources they will require.

Pre-commitment

Consequences and roadblocks one sets up to keep them on track. These are temptation busters.

Present bias

People value immediate rewards over future rewards.

Priming

Exposure to a stimulus influences people's responses to subsequent stimulus.

Reciprocity

People often respond to a positive action or gift by providing something in return.

Regret aversion

People fear making the wrong decision.

Risk aversion

People prefer certainty over uncertainty.

Round number bias

People prefer round numbers.

Salience

Any detail or element that noticeably stands out.

Scarcity

People place higher value on items with limited quantities.

Social proof

People conform to the behavior of others.

Timeliness

The success of an intervention is dependent on the time it is introduced.

Trust

The confidence that one has in someone else.

Trusted messenger

People regarded as credible sources of information.

What-the-hell effect

People give up on getting back on track.

Browse all Behavioral Concepts