This resource outlines Rare’s set of behavioural levers — behaviour-oriented strategies grounded in established principles of behavioural and social science — used to support human behaviour change. These levers describe the pathways through which actions influence key actors' psycho-social states and, ultimately, their behaviour, and are most effective when combined to address motivations and barriers operating at individual, social, and institutional levels.
Six levers are identified: using social influences and norms (norm me); leveraging emotional appeals, values, and interests (sway me); and designing the choice or decision context (cue me), providing information and support (show/teach me); changing incentives such as material costs, benefits, time, and effort (tempt/help me); and enacting rules and enforcement (make me).
Selecting the appropriate lever and consequent actions requires understanding each actor's values, context, cognitive biases, and the barriers to motivations behind their behaviour, ensuring interventions are tailored rather than applied generically.
