BehaviourWorks

Co-founded in 2011 by The Shannon Company with some of Victoria’s leading government agencies, BehaviourWorks Australia (BWA) is now the largest university-based applied behaviour change research unit in Australia. Based at Monash University, BWA’s multi-disciplinary researchers collaborate with policymakers and program leaders to explore and understand the ‘human side’ of everyday problems and use insights from the behavioural sciences to influence behaviour in a way that leads to better decision-making. Using a unique methodology developed over several years with its partners, BWA researchers have now worked on over 400 behaviour change projects across a wide range of fields and contexts including health, safety, waste, environmental education, energy, climate change, organisational change, transport and road safety, pollution, conservation and social inclusion. BWA approaches include:

• Systems mapping to identify the individuals, groups and organisations involved in the problem and who may be part of the solution.
• Stakeholder engagement to gain a deeper understanding of the problem and how it is experienced in the real world.
• Evidence reviews to understand ‘what’s worked’ (or not) to address the problem.
• Behavioural identification and prioritisation to give the partners a clear idea of the behaviours to target (‘who needs to do what differently?’).
• Intervention co-design and field trials to test the effects and impacts of different intervention approaches
• Knowledge sharing and capability building.

BWA researchers are connected to a wide range of topic experts through its association with Monash University and the Monash Sustainable Development and to behaviour change experts around the world.

Sustainable Practice 360º

Sustainable Practice 360°, a partnership between leading academic and practitioner in sustainable businesses Dr Barry Law and The Shannon Company, aids businesses and organisations to change their behaviour in ways that will improve their business performance and demonstrate sustainable practice in their communities. Many companies understand why they need to address sustainability. Most do not know how. Our change model, Sustainable Practice 360°, is the culmination of two years of research and development. It provides the practical tools and processes to show companies how to become more productive and sustainable in their ways.

For more information contact Ian Forsyth or Michael Daddo

Australia’s Behaviour Concerns

Australia’s Behaviour Concerns is the first study of its kind that identifies and provides insights into social behaviours that most concern and/or impact Australians.

The study was first undertaken in 2013 in partnership with EY Sweeney; it includes the views and thoughts of 4500 Australians aged 16 years and above and will be undertaken annually to provide a picture of how our concerns and the behaviours we’re impacted by change overtime. Australia’s Behaviour Concerns identifies the nation’s top 34 concerns and groups them into 7 categories : Health, Road Safety, Work Safety, Discrimination, Gambling, Domestic and Community Safety. As well as the insights from Australia’s Behaviour Concerns being used to inform our own thinking, the data is also available more broadly on a paid subscription basis through the dedicated website, behaviourconcerns.com.au. Subscribers can access written summaries and insights, or delve into the detailed data and graphically compare concerns and impacts across a range of variables including states, genders, ages, incomes and job categories. The Shannon Company is at the leading edge of behaviour change communications – we’re a founding member of BehaviourWorks, an internationally recognised behaviour change research centre based at Monash University, and our partnership with EY Sweeney to undertake Australia’s Behaviour Concerns is another example of our commitment.

Visit the 'Australia's Behaviour Concerns' website

Australia’s Changing Choices

Increasing competition and, in some instances, deregulation have brought consumer choice into the spotlight for a range of sectors. Whether consumers change provider and why many of them fail to do so, despite financial and other benefits in doing so, is the topic at the core of this research program.

The global growth of the 'nudge' movement where consumers are subconsciously poked or encouraged to make a choice that will benefit them is reflected across many sectors. This report looks at 14 product and service categories within the commercial sector. It provides comparisons across these product and service categories in terms of switching and inertia characteristics and, rather than the drivers of switching behaviour, it examines the drivers of inertia. In which categories are consumers least active and why?

Across 14 product and service categories, we ask...

• • Why do you stay with your existing product or service supplier?
• • How likely are you to consider changing your supplier in the next 12 months?
• • And for sticky consumers, what prevents them from switching provider?

The report includes...

• • 2,000 interviews across Australia
• • An Interactive Report that allows for bespoke analysis
• • Expert commentary
• • Segmentation analysis that identifies consumer typologies with varying levels of churn behaviour across the 14 product and service categories

Visit 'Australia's Changing Choices' website