National Social Marketing Centre

After reading Aditya Chakrabortty's article in today's Guardian, I stumbled across this fascinating illustration (literally) of what really motivates people. It's based on a talk given by workplace behaviour expert Daniel Pink for the RSA last year:

The government is already being accused of 'bottling it' on a minimum price for alcohol. Instead of banning the sale of bargain booze, it is said that shops and bars will be prevented from selling drinks for less than the tax they pay on them.

Public health campaigners have been quick to condemn what they see as toothless legislation – and undoubtedly wielding the stick of regulation has proven a successful vector of behaviour change in other areas.

As many of us return to work this year facing further economic woe, we may find solace in the Centre for Mental Health’s (CMH) Impact on Depression programme. This innovative training scheme builds knowledge, skills and confidence among managers and staff to recognise and give help to colleagues with depression and anxiety.

The government's 'Nudge' unit is back in the news after the launch of their recent paper on behavioural insight. And yet again the press are putting a strange spin on what they are trying to achieve.

The Indie published an article a couple of days ago, subtly titled 'Nudge, nudge, wink wink... How the Government wants to change the way we think', which carefully couched its appraisal in terms such as 'psychological tricks' and 'mental techniques' in order to describe the aims of the unit. Of course it's eye-catching and headline-grabbing stuff, but it doesn't give the big picture and it does smack of lazy journalism.