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Behaviour and Social Change Hub

Designing and evaluating policy, programmes, interventions & communications.

Purpose + Mission 

We help our clients create positive individual, organisational and societal change. Our ambition is to tackle key societal issues facing the UK today and use the application of behavioural science to guide and inform policy and behaviour change interventions to drive social good.

The solutions we offer include:

  • Advisory and consultancy services (around leading behavioural science frameworks, methods, models and theory)
  • End-to end-behavioural insight for intervention design and evaluation
  • Measuring and understanding behaviour through behavioural analysis of qualitative and quantitative data
  • Upskilling capabilities within your organisation, building behavioural science processes.
  • Evidence reviews, intervention mapping and design, RCTs.
  • Organisational behaviour and business decision making analysis and intervention development 
     

Approach 

Our approach combines expertise in psychology and the social sciences with the delivery and analysis of social research to define, diagnose, design and evaluate opportunities for behaviour change interventions. We use an extensive toolkit of behavioural measurement approaches, working with audiences on a local and global scale to generate insights and interventions for social good across the key challenges we face today.

What makes up unique:

  • Behavioural Data: With proprietary datasets and tools tracking behaviour in real time, we can go beyond stated intentions.
  • Scale, depth, and representativeness: Leveraging Ipsos proprietary panels, we can reach more people, faster, delivery the most robust research insights. Our probability sample panel allows us to reach the digitally excluded; our dedicated qual team is specialised working with vulnerable populations.
  • Innovation: We access the full rage of AI-powered tools developed across Ipsos – from research tools uncovering indirect attitudes, to advanced models predicting real behaviour based on interactions in a simulated environment, and behaviourally rooted AI personas.
  • Theory: Use of behaviour change frameworks to inform data collection, analysis and intervention design: we are very experienced in the application of COM-B (and related behavioural science frameworks such as APEASE, IN-CASE, ISM) as well as our own widely used approach, MAPPS.
  • Training: We work with clients to embed behavioural science skills into the organisation, equipping teams to deliver behaviour change
  • Advisory: We support the development and activation of behaviour change programmes, designing solutions for long-standing challenges. We develop workshops that include a range of innovative techniques, such as behavioural sandpits (optimisation of designs)
  • Behavioural Audit:  We provide behavioural science expertise to inform the application of research tools, alongside reviewing touchpoints to assess ways in which they can be optimised to drive positive outcomes
  • Policy: our teams are multi-disciplinary, collaborating with policy topic experts, academics and centres of excellence in dialogue and evaluation. This means we bring a richness of cross sector experience and expertise to inform the way in which we help our clients design and implement behaviour change programmes.

We are part of the larger UK and Global behavioural science function which spans a wide range of public and private sector capabilities with a significant geographic footprint. This allows us access to skills and experience that can be drawn on to help support and inform the programmes we undertake.

If you are private sector, and would like to get in touch with our private sector behavioural science team, please click here.
 

Senior leadership team 

Dr Giulia Tagliaferri, Head of Behavioural Science, Public Affairs, Ipsos in the UK

Giulia Tagliaferri leads the Behavioural Science practice at Ipsos in UK dedicated to serving government departments, regulators and public bodies. With over ten years of experience in the sector, she excels in applying behavioural insights to create, execute, and assess impactful behaviour change programs across a range of policy domains. Her expertise spans innovative, mixed-methods approaches - from large-scale RCTs to cutting-edge AI applications, aimed at delivering actionable, evidence-based recommendations. Giulia's leadership extends to managing talented teams and cultivating client relationship.  

Email / Connect on LinkedIn

Client case studies

Using Behavioural Science to improve the financial wellbeing in the UK (2020)

Ipsos collaborated with the UK's Money & Pension Service to influence people's engagement with their money and pensions. This involved a consultative program, reviewing government and academic studies, and interviewing behaviour change and financial wellbeing experts. A comprehensive report was then produced summarizing the findings and proposing a long-term behaviour change programme. This report is integral to the organization's future strategy and policy development.

CCS Bloom and Gloom (2023)

Ipsos collaborated with the UK's Money & Pension Service to influence people's engagement with their money and pensions. This involved a consultative program, reviewing government and academic studies, and interviewing behaviour change and financial wellbeing experts. A comprehensive report was then produced summarizing the findings and proposing a long-term behaviour change programme. This report is integral to the organization's future strategy and policy development.

The study focused on identifying water-saving behaviours, the barriers to these behaviours, and potential campaign strategies. Barriers included lack of motivation, perceived irrelevance, insufficient knowledge, and low self-efficacy. Two research components were conducted: an online experiment with 600 participants using facial coding to measure reactions to video clips, and behavioural tracking of 99 of these participants. The study aimed to understand the impact of different settings, messages, tones, and calls-to-action on attitudes and behaviours towards water conservation. The study showcased the capability to conduct varied research methods and provided CCW with valuable insights.

Communications and Road Safety

The client team sought to redesign communications about new digital signage for drivers who had committed offences, with the goal of making the information more accessible and meaningful. The aim was to increase awareness of Dynamic Hard Shoulders and the Red X signage, thereby reducing non-compliance driving behaviour. A behavioural science audit was conducted, and the letter was tested both online and through in-depth interviews. Based on the findings, the letters were rewritten and reformatted, considering recommendations on font, tone, language, layout, and comprehension.

Organisational and employee behaviour change

The study aimed to evaluate the impact of a training and suggest improvements for future sustainability. Steps included formative interviews with Earthwatch and HSBC staff and a theory of change workshop. A qualitative comparative analysis was employed, selecting HSBC staff for 22 longitudinal case studies and reviewing Earthwatch's administrative information. Using the COM-B framework, staff behaviour changes and programme success factors were assessed. A theory of change was developed for the programme, along with a monitoring and evaluation framework for Earthwatch's continued use.

Global Health

The study aimed to design HIV services interventions to help South Africa reach its 90/90/90 targets, focusing on encouraging high-risk men to get tested more regularly and link positive individuals to ARVs. To understand the barriers and enablers to testing and treatment, the team conducted ethnographic and qualitative interviews and quantitative research. Despite high knowledge and awareness about HIV, men's fear of diagnosis and everyday economic struggles led to delayed testing and treatment. The study recommended interventions to reduce HIV-associated fear and leverage social influence to prioritize HIV testing among men.
 

Insights

 

Ipsos Links:
Ipsos Encyclopedia - Behavioural Science
Innovation & Knowledge: Society 
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