Behavioral inertia has become a buzzword in marketing, often associated with the stubborn action (or inaction) of a target audience. As anthropologists, hosts Sonika Garcia and Gabe Cummings are often approached with the challenge of designing interventions that break inertia; however, there’s more to inertia than simply recognizing it and knowing how to overcome it. In this episode, they break down the emotional motivators of inertia, the possibility of leveraging and rewarding inert behaviors, and why it’s paramount to focus first on what a target audience is doing as opposed to what they aren’t.
Welcome to Breaking the Code! Behavioral science is a cornerstone of modern marketing practice, but much of what passes itself off as behavioral science is just bs. Good social science gives us the insights and roadmap we need to change behavior, but bad social science just muddies the water and tarnishes the social sciences. As behavior change is a core objective of marketing, getting behavioral science right is crucial. Listen in as hosts Sonika Garcia, MPH, and Gabriel Allen-Cummings, Medical Anthropology Strategists at Havas Health, sound off on what is, and isn’t, good social science, from a variety of disciplines covering new topics every podcast.
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