Habit and the intention-behaviour relationship within the Theory of Planned Behaviour: Implications for information base

1. Habit and the intention-behaviour relationship within the Theory of Planned Behaviour: Implications for information based interventions By Erica Thomas

2. Hypothetical relationships between physical activity and health in children and adults Childhood Childhood activityhealth AdultAdult Activity health From Blair, Clark, Cureton and Powell (1989)

3. Theory of Planned Behaviour Adapted from Ajzen (2006)

4. A meta-analytic review of the Theory of Planned Behaviour in physical activity (Hagger, Chatzisarantis & Biddle, 2002) • Correlation between physical activity intentions and behaviour is modest rc = .426. • Overall the TPB accounted for 44.5% of the variance in physical activity intentions and only 27.4% of the variance in physical activity behaviour. • Put another way 55.5% of the variance in physical activity intentions and 72.6% of the variance in physical activity behaviour is explained by factors other than those posited within the TPB.

5. Path analysis diagram showing structural relationships between the TPB variables, self-efficacy and past behaviour Attitude .20* Subjective Norm .09* .05** Intention Behaviour .28* .22* PBC .15* .37* .55* Self-Efficacy .04* Corrected correlations derived by meta-analysis Past Behaviour Adapted from Hagger, Chatzisarantis and Biddle (2002)

6. 1.00 0.90 STRONG HABIT 0.80 0.70 MODERATE HABIT B E H A V I O U R 0.60 0.50 WEAK 0.40 HABIT 0.30 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 -0 1 2 I N T E N T I O N Simple slope analysis illustrating how the intention-behaviour relationship varies as a function of habit strength β = -.09, P > .05 β = .09, P > .05 β = .26, P < .003 From Verplanken et al. (1998)

7. Is there really a link between frequency of past behaviour and the habitual level of that behaviour? • A high frequency of behaviour does not necessarily imply the existence of a strong habit e.g. an athlete may run a marathon frequently, but this can hardly be qualified as a habit! • Equating frequency with habit implies the absurd consequence that habit strength keeps increasing with increasing frequency. • Habit has been shown to vary independently of behavioural frequency e.g. Verplanken (2006).

8. Habits “Are learned sequences of acts that have become automatic responses to specific cues and are functional in obtaining certain end goals or states” (Verplanken & Aarts, 1999, p.104)

9. Conceptualization and characteristics of habit Bargh’s (1994) four features of automaticity • Awareness • Habits most often occur outside of awareness • Controllability • Habits can be difficult to control (but not impossible) • Mental efficiency • Habits are mentally efficient • Intentionality • Habits are intentional in the sense of being goal directed (Aarts & Dijksterhuis, 2000)

10. Conceptualization and characteristics of habit • Environment-behaviour link • Habit formation involves the creation of associations in memory between actions and stable features of the context in which they are performed. • Habits can be triggered by environmental cues, internal states and by the presence of typical interaction partners. • Once these links have been formed via associative learning, merely perceiving a context triggers associated responses. • Habits develop by the systematic experience of rewarding consequences. • The rewarding properties of habits make them functional from the perspective of the individual who develops them. • Thus habits are “wanted” in achieving some goal.

11. Implications for information based interventions • Interventions based on the TPB generally use informational strategies to promote behaviour change; However strong habits are associated with attenuated relations between intentions and behaviour. • Given these consequences of habituation, the presence of a strong habit poses a contraindication to the use of informational techniques (Verplanken & Melkevik, 2008). • Webb & Sheeran (2006) provide striking evidence in support of this idea. • Providing information will only result in attitudinal change if one is likely to pay attention to new information (Chaiken, 1980, 1987); yet strong habits are associated with a lack of interest for new information (Verlpanken et al., 1997) and information use that is biased toward maintaining the existing habit (Betsch et al., 2001).

12. Implications for information based interventions • Frequency, automaticity and functionality make habits strong durable structures. • The prospects for interventions that consist of providing information and aim at changing attitudes is particularly grim when the target behaviour is habitual. • The dependence of habits on environmental cues represents an important point of vulnerability.

13. 1.2 0.8 0.4 0.0 -0.4 -0.8 Stable context – existing habit Changed context – existing habit -1.2 Less Favourable Intentions More Favourable Intentions Frequency of students exercise behaviour after moving to a new University Frequency of exercising Adapted from Wood, Tam and Guerrero Witt (2005)

14. Recommendations • Information based interventions may be more successful if they target individuals when they are undergoing naturally occurring shifts in the performance environment (Verplanken & Wood, 2006). E.g. when moving to a new location. • Public policy should be orientated towards structural changes in the performance environment itself, e.g. by providing cycle paths to encourage cycling as a form of exercise. • To the extent that large scale environmental interventions alter critical features of the performance environment they are likely to be successful at disrupting unwanted habits. • New performance environments can provide a stable context to foster the creation and maintenance of more desirable habits. (Verplanken & Wood, 2006).

15. Summary and Conclusions • Understanding habit is important to public policy concerning healthful living. • Behaviour changes strategies are most likely to be successful when they are tailored to the habit strength of the target behaviour (Verplanken & Wood, 2006). • Everyday actions that are not habitual are open to information based interventions which are designed educate people and motivate them to change. • Strong habits perpetuate prior behaviours and limit the effectiveness of information based interventions (Verplanken & Wood, 2006).

16. Summary and Conclusions • The expectations for certain environmental and behavioural events that develop with habit formation lead to a kind of ‘tunnel vision’ that shields behaviour from change through new information. • Even when consumers become convinced of the advisability of habit change, they are likely to continue to perform any given behaviour as long as it is automatically cued by stable features of the performance environment. • The dependence of habit on environmental cues renders them vulnerable to intervention strategies that involve changes in those cues (Verplanken & Wood, 2006). • Interventions to promote physical activity in children should adopt habituation as an intervention goal.

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