How to Change Behavior: Jason Feifer on Bridging the Belief-Action Gap

In a recent LinkedIn post, Jason Feifer explores a subtle yet powerful technique for influencing behavior, emphasizing the pitfalls of direct commands and advocating for a strategy that highlights the discrepancy between people’s stated beliefs and their actual actions. Feifer, an entrepreneur and the editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur magazine, argues that directly telling people what to do often backfires.

The Perils of Direct Instruction

Feifer’s central thesis revolves around the psychological concept of reactance, which he explains as the natural human tendency to resist perceived attempts to control or limit one’s freedom. He illustrates this by stating:

Don’t TELL people what to do. That triggers reactance, where people push back against any loss of control.

Instead of issuing directives, Feifer suggests a more effective approach: revealing the gap between an individual’s beliefs and their actions. This method, according to Feifer, empowers the individual to recognize the inconsistency themselves and make their own decision to change, thereby circumventing the resistance triggered by direct orders.

Case Study: The Irish Ad and Beyond

To demonstrate his point, Feifer references a recent Irish advertisement. He explains that the ad doesn’t explicitly tell viewers to change their behavior but rather presents a scenario designed to make them think. The ad depicts strangers possessing an unnerving amount of information about a young girl named Ava. The reveal is that this information is derived from her father’s social media posts, implicitly questioning the wisdom of oversharing personal details online.

This strategy, Feifer points out, is not novel. He draws a parallel to a campaign used in Thailand to combat smoking:

Years ago, Thailand used it to combat tobacco. They filmed children asking to bum a cigarette from smoking adults. When the adults explained that smoking is bad, the child handed them a card that read: “You worry about me, but why not about yourself?”

The impact of this Thai campaign was significant. Feifer notes its success:

The ad drove a 40% increase in calls to Thailand’s quit-smoking hotline.

This historical example reinforces Feifer’s argument that highlighting a gap between stated values (e.g., knowing smoking is bad) and actions (smoking) can be a potent catalyst for behavior change.

Applying the Principle to Business and Marketing

Feifer extends this principle beyond public health campaigns, suggesting its applicability in marketing and business. He argues that businesses can leverage this understanding to encourage more desirable consumer actions, whether it’s promoting healthier choices, driving demand for premium products, or fostering more responsible consumption patterns.

The core question Feifer poses to his audience is:

So, ask yourself: What gap could YOU reveal to your audience today?

By encouraging readers to identify and illustrate these belief-action discrepancies, Feifer provides a framework for more effective and less confrontational communication strategies. His insights suggest that understanding human psychology, particularly the aversion to perceived control, is key to influencing behavior in a meaningful way.