Behavioural Science in the Private Sector: Five Key Takeaways from Bescy London Panel

On January 18th, over 90 members of the Bescy London chapter gathered?at VCCP offices in Victoria?to hear an expert panel discuss the opportunities and challenges facing Behavioural Science in the Private Sector.

Here are five (5) key takeaways from our conversation:?

It’s clear that BeSci is being applied to many sectors and objectives across the Private Sector. Our panelists spoke to recent projects in the healthcare, banking & finance and consumer goods and retail sectors, addressing issues from employee wellness to consumer journeys, through a combination of training and project-based engagements.??

There’s a major opportunity for Behavioural Science to help companies address changes in their business environment.?

• Amanda Henwood of Influence of Work spoke to the overall decline in trust across society. She then outlined her organisation’s ongoing efforts to measure trust and help companies earn their customers’ trust.?

“Behavioural Scientists are in a unique position to understand and advise on trust.” ? -Amanda Henwood, of Influence of Work

• Ziba Goddard of Cowry Consulting focused on changes in consumer behaviour and the challenge of creating shopping experiences that leverage the benefits of digital and physical environments. She felt that Behavioural Science has a role to play in this ongoing transition, as “Digital first will require efforts to supercharge self-service & create online habits.”? Several panelists also mentioned the potential for Behavioural Science to help make our interactions with AI chatbots more natural, helpful and “human.”?
• One persistent challenge to gaining further traction is finding a budget. As Ted Utoft of BVA Nudge Consulting put it,

“Very few private sector companies have a dedicated budget for Behavioural Science. Therefore, we often have to seek out who will be our internal champion or even our paying client – Is it HR? Is it marketing? Or CX? Or UX? Or innovation?”? -Ted Utoft, BVA Nudge Consulting

Ted mentioned that, across functions, it’s important to link Behavioural Science to the client’s business terminology and objectives (such as? incrementality, frequency and penetration), in order to “make the case” for investment.?

• Driven by a question from Scott Young (the moderator), the panel debated the objective of “democratising” Behavioural Science. While Ziba spoke to the goal of making the field more present and accessible, Ted countered that there was also a need to preserve robust standards and ensure that principles are not used loosely and incorrectly. “Having more BeSci knowledge inside organisations is a good thing,? but it's on us, as the experts, to keep some purity of thought and clarity of terminology.”

• There’s an opportunity for academia, business and consultancies to work together more effectively to develop and support Behavioural Science.? In response to an audience question, Amanda mentioned that we need to more consistently experiment and test & learn together.

“The academic world has the credibility and expertise to help engage companies and secure funding, whereas private consultancies can get things implemented and measured more quickly, at a pace that’s more attractive to the business world.”? -Amanda Henwood

Many thanks to Jadin Meurer and the Bescy London team for their terrific work in organising this event. Please contact Jadin ([email protected] ) or visit the Bescy website to find out about future London-based Bescy events.?