Health Behaviour Theories

If you want to go deeper into the impact that your communications can have, understanding the theory behind health behaviour can give your communications the edge.

These theories help explain why people behave certain ways when it comes to their health, and the ways that we can impact this behaviour through communications.

The Theories

Here you’ll find a brief overview of some of the theories that Communicating Health has drawn on as a part of its research (see list of publications).

Integrated Model of Behavioural Change

This focuses on a person’s intention to perform a certain behaviour and the subsequent behaviour.

          • It looks at things that might prevent behaviours, and recognises the importance of constraints, barriers, and capabilities (e.g. lack of skills, environmental influences).

          • It recognises factors like personality, values, past behaviours, media exposure, demographics and culture.

          • These can all influence someone's beliefs, attitudes, perceived ability to act, norms, and intentions.


For health professionals, this theory might be important if your aim is to get your audience to perform a certain health behavior (like exercising regularly) or getting them to change a behavior (like swapping one food for another).

Self-Determination Theory (SDT)

This is about someone’s ability to have control, to make choices and manage their own life.

  • It looks at people’s self-motivation and how it influences choices.

  • It assumes that people want autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

  • People want personal growth and to challenge themselves.

  • Having new experiences all lend to their sense of self.

  • People like to feel in control of their own behaviours and goals, and they need to get good at things and learn different skills to feel they can achieve their goals.

  • People need to have a sense of belonging and attachment to others to receive feedback and reinforcement of their behaviours.


For health professionals, this theory is useful if your aim is to influence the behaviour of individuals in general, but particularly those in certain groups who are developing their sense of autonomy but still seek group approval, such as teenagers and young adults. It is also useful for understanding people we label as ‘stubborn’ or who don’t like to take advice, but will happily change if they think the idea was their own.

Approach-Avoidance Conflict

This is when a goal, event, or behaviour is perceived to have both positive and negative consequences.

          • Whichever is the strongest feeling has the most impact on someone’s ability to achieve a goal.

          • When faced with change, a person might start towards a goal, but as they become more aware of the real or perceived negative factors, they can start to avoid the goal.

          • Perceived negative consequences produces some indecision or hesitancy either immediately or over time. For example, changing their diet may be perceived as positive, but perceptions of the family’s reaction to a change, or the perception that taste and enjoyment of food will be reduced, may override the positive thoughts and inhibit action.


For health professionals, this theory might be important if your aim is to promote behaviours in people who are greatly influenced by or accountable to the groups to which they belong, such as adolescents, families, sporting groups or cultural groups. This theory can help you promote perception shifts amongst whole groups, with positive effects on the individual group members. This can also be applied to those for whom a change has the greatest cost - e.g. higher costs or financial barriers; group acceptance or rejection; access to resources; time burden.

Value Co-Creation

This is the belief that people should be active participants in the design and implementation of interventions, products, or services.

          • This avoids a top-down approach to interventions and communications

          • People share their experiences and influencing factors and have a real impact on campaign design.

          • This sees individuals shifting from being ‘users’ and ‘choosers’ to being ‘makers’ and ‘shapers’

          • Outcomes of interventions can be seen through the eyes of the people at the centre of health-related communications and interventions.

          • Co-creation increases engagement as it helps people identify with a campaign goal


For health professionals, this theory might be important for larger campaigns. It can be applied to any group or ‘segment’.

Macromarketing

This relates to the way that marketing policies, strategies and actions influence society as a whole.

          • Its focus is at the societal level and not the individual level.

          • It is concerned with how individuals and societies innovate, adapt, and learn in response to marketing strategies and actions.

          • Importantly, it is also concerned with how the general marketing processes should be conducted in the best interests of society.

          • The results would be products, services, and communications that support the values of society.


For health professionals, this theory might be important if your aim is to promote health behaviour change via government, organisation or community policy or culture.

Consumer Powershifting

This is about how the marketing landscape is changing.

          • Consumers and individuals, rather than marketers, are gaining increasing control over the success or failure of marketing initiatives such as campaigns, products, and services.

          • Power is shifting particularly through social media

          • Consumers are taking the driver’s seat as media shifts from marketers broadcasting a message, to it now being interactive. Companies and organisations may find themselves demoted to passengers.

          • Those seeking to use social media to effect behaviour change are also impacted by consumers deriving power from one another.

          • People are now also able to promote perspectives that diverge from the messages that a campaign is trying to convey.


For health professionals, this theory might help you plan a communication campaign that engages your audience more effectively. For example, you might consider co-creating [link] a campaign, or engaging your audience as communication allies, or perhaps align with social media influencers, hashtags or memes to enhance engagement with your campaign.

Where to next? - Audience or back to Social Marketing or to the helpful resources linked below