Utilising Behavioural Science in Health Advertising
- 17 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Summary :
Health advertising is uniquely challenging because it is asking people to change behaviour, not just shift perceptions - and information alone is rarely enough.
Dr Simon Moore positions behavioural science as a practical framework for designing health communications based on how decisions are actually made (habit, emotion, context, social influence).
People often intend to act, but don’t follow through - the job is to spot where things get stuck and remove friction to make the next step feel easier.
Patients and HCPs face different pressures, so messages need to feel manageable for patients and simple, safe and workable for clinicians.
Stronger health campaigns come from designing for action from the start: simplify choices, reduce effort, and make the behaviour feel achievable.
Introduction
Health advertising occupies a distinctive and demanding space. Unlike many other categories, it is not simply trying to shift perceptions or build brand preference; it is asking people to change what they do. To book a screening. To start or continue a course of treatment. To adopt a healthier routine that may have been ingrained for decades.
That is no small task. Habits are stubborn, health decisions are emotionally charged, and competing priorities are constant. Information alone is rarely enough.
This is where behavioural science becomes invaluable. Not as abstract theory, but as a practical framework for designing communications that work in the real world. When applied effectively, behavioural science helps teams understand why people behave as they do and how to shape messages, environments and experiences to support meaningful change.
Our behavioural science workshop demystifies the discipline and translates it into clear, applicable tools for health advertising, from strategic planning through to creative execution.
What Is Behavioural Science?
Behavioural science examines how people actually behave, rather than how we assume they behave.
Traditional models of decision-making often rest on the idea that individuals are rational actors: presented with the right information, they weigh the evidence and make the optimal choice. In reality, human behaviour is far more complex. It is shaped by emotion, habit, context, social influence and cognitive shortcuts that operate largely outside conscious awareness.
In health, the disconnect between knowledge and action is particularly visible. Many people understand the importance of exercise, balanced nutrition, regular check-ups or treatment adherence, yet good intentions frequently fail to translate into sustained behaviour.
Behavioural science helps explain why.
Drawing on psychology, behavioural economics and decision science, it explores:
How habits form and why they persist
Why people resist change, even when the stakes are high
How context, emotion, and social norms influence choices
The biases and heuristics that guide everyday decisions
Crucially, behavioural science does more than diagnose problems. It offers evidence-based principles for influencing behaviour ethically and effectively, enabling communications to work with human psychology rather than against it.
The Intention–Action Gap
One of the most persistent challenges in health communication is the gap between intention and action. People express a desire to change. They agree that change is important. They may even feel motivated in the moment. Yet follow-through falters.
Behavioural science explains this not as a failure of character, but as a predictable feature of how the brain operates.
Much of our behaviour is automatic. We rely on cognitive shortcuts to conserve mental energy, particularly in environments characterised by stress, uncertainty or information overload — all common in health contexts. Present bias, for example, leads us to prioritise immediate comfort over long-term benefit. The short-term inconvenience of booking an appointment can outweigh the abstract promise of future wellbeing.
Emotional heuristics also play a role. Decisions are often guided by how something feels rather than by a careful assessment of evidence. Familiar routines feel safer than new behaviours, even when those routines are suboptimal. In addition, responsibility for health outcomes is sometimes psychologically outsourced to clinicians or systems, reducing a sense of personal agency.
Campaigns that rely solely on logic, information, or motivation frequently underestimate these forces. By contrast, a behavioural approach asks: where is friction occurring, and how can we reduce it? How can the desired action feel easier, safer, and more immediate?
Why Health Decisions Are Rarely Rational
Health decisions are seldom made through calm, detached deliberation. Research suggests that the vast majority of brain activity occurs outside conscious awareness. We are influenced by cues, emotions and contextual signals long before rational thought engages.
In healthcare settings, this effect is amplified. Patients may feel anxious, vulnerable or overwhelmed. Healthcare professionals operate under time pressure, accountability and cognitive load. Under such conditions, the brain defaults to efficiency rather than analysis.
This presents a fundamental challenge for health advertising: even the most accurate, evidence-based message can fail if it does not align with how decisions are truly made.
Messages that overwhelm, threaten identity, or increase cognitive burden are unlikely to succeed, regardless of their factual strength. Behavioural science enables teams to uncover the non-conscious drivers at play - particularly in situations involving risk, fear or uncertainty - and to design communications that respond to them.
Patients and Healthcare Professionals: Different Realities
Patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs) face distinct psychological pressures, and their behaviour is shaped accordingly.
For patients, health decisions rarely exist in isolation. They compete with work, family responsibilities and everyday concerns. They may be accompanied by fear of diagnosis, uncertainty about outcomes or confusion about options. In this context, effective communication reduces perceived effort and makes the next step feel manageable. It reinforces a sense of control and confidence, provides social reassurance and ensures that recommended actions appear achievable rather than disruptive.
For HCPs, behaviour is influenced by a different set of constraints. Clinical decisions carry significant responsibility and risk. Information overload is common, and time is limited. Professional identity, peer norms, and established routines strongly shape practice. Changes that disrupt familiar, “safe” processes can trigger resistance, even when evidence supports them. A behavioural lens helps teams design communications that respect these realities. Rather than adding pressure, it supports decision-making by simplifying choices, reinforcing trusted norms, and reducing uncertainty.
The Power of Framing
How a message is framed can significantly influence its impact. One of the most robust findings in behavioural science is loss aversion: people tend to be more motivated to avoid losses than to achieve equivalent gains.
In health contexts, this principle plays out in nuanced ways. For HCPs, loss-framed messaging might highlight the potential downstream consequences of inaction, such as increased workload, missed opportunities for improved outcomes, or reputational risk. For patients, it may focus on delayed recovery, preventable complications, or missed milestones.
Importantly, applying loss aversion does not mean resorting to fear-based tactics. Overly threatening messages can provoke avoidance or denial. The aim is not to alarm, but to align communications with how people naturally evaluate risk and consequence. When framed carefully, potential losses can make action feel more urgent and relevant without undermining trust.
Why Behavioural Science Matters in Health Advertising
Health advertising often underperforms not because the message is incorrect, but because it asks too much of its audience. It assumes people will process complex information, overcome emotional barriers, prioritise future benefits and disrupt established routines — all at once.
Behavioural science reframes this challenge. Instead of asking, “How do we persuade?”, it prompts a more practical question: “What is preventing the desired behaviour, and how can we remove those obstacles?”
The outcome is a mindset shift: from expecting behaviour change to deliberately designing for it.
Embedding Behavioural Thinking in Practice
Behavioural science delivers its greatest value when it is applied consistently rather than occasionally. A single campaign informed by behavioural insight can make an impact, but sustained change requires integration across planning, creative development, execution, and evaluation.
Our goal is to help move from understanding behavioural principles in theory to applying them in practice. We work alongside our clients to uncover the genuine psychological drivers influencing patient and HCP behaviour, challenging assumptions and pressure-testing decisions through a behavioural lens.
This can involve diagnosing where behaviour breaks down across the journey, refining briefs to articulate specific behavioural outcomes, and evaluating creative work based on its likely behavioural impact. It may also include advising on framing and messaging, optimising multichannel strategies using principles of attention and memory, or supporting consultation and experience design where interpersonal interaction is critical.
Our aim is not to replace existing expertise, but to complement it — bringing specialist behavioural capability where it adds the most value.
Conclusion
Health advertising is ultimately about change. It seeks to alter habits, encourage adherence, support prevention and improve outcomes. Achieving this requires more than strong messaging; it demands an understanding of how behaviour truly works.
Behavioural science offers that understanding. It provides a structured, evidence-based way to identify barriers, design solutions and create communications that align with real human psychology.
If you are looking to strengthen the behavioural foundations of your health advertising — whether through a tailored workshop, support on a specific challenge or a longer-term partnership — we would welcome the conversation. Together, we can ensure your communications do not simply inform or persuade, but genuinely enable action.
By: Dr Stephanie Goley
