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Introduction to Make Me
Introduction to Make Me
The knowledge and perceptions of rules and laws can encourage or prevent people from doing a behavior. While not everyone follows the rules, regulatory frameworks support behavior change because they can effectively communicate order in a system, causing most people to associate a certain behavior as “right” or “wrong.” Some rules also work through perceptions of fairness based on what people think is appropriate or justified. In general, rules guide us about our environment and what will benefit us and/or others to do or not do.
Guidance for Theory of Change Development
Guidance for Theory of Change Development
Make sure you start developing the theory of change with the desired behavior change in mind. Then, when writing a psycho-social state intermediate result using Make Me you might use words like:
Actors believe following the rule is the right thing to do
Generic Pathways for Make Me
Generic Pathways for Make Me
Type A. Mandate or prohibit behavior
Example(s) of Type A. Mandate or prohibit behavior
Example(s) of Type A. Mandate or prohibit behavior
The Endangered Species Act in the United States has been estimated to protect 99% of threatened or endangered species to date (Greenwald et al, 2019).
As of 2017, at least 127 countries had some sort of plastic bag regulations of varying restriction levels, with Rwanda being a global leader in its enforcement and seeing measurable changes in plastic bag use and littering (UNEP, 2018).
In 2023, the European Commission enacted a regulation with an eighteen-month compliance timeline that requires companies selling to the European Union market to ensure their products are not contributing to forest degradation or deforestation (Directorate-General for Environment, 2024).
This lever is useful when target actors…
This lever is useful when target actors…
➡️ are sensitive to formal rules and authority
➡️ know that enforcement mechanisms are in place
This lever pairs well with...
This lever pairs well with...
Tempt Me (Material Incentives) as rules benefit from enforcement, such as incentives or penalties
Norm Me (Social Influences) as regulations are most powerful when supportive social norms act as informal rules about a behavior.
Nudge Me (Choice Architecture) as visible and memorable rule prompts can help people remember and follow rules.
Common traps to avoid
Common traps to avoid
Enacting rules without considering how it will be enforced. Bans on behavior can be very difficult to monitor or enforce, especially for behaviors done in private
Rules do not work if social norms are misaligned
Additional Resources for Make Me
Additional Resources for Make Me
Cover Image by Rare.
Guidance for Theory of Change Image by Rare.
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