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| What does the London escalator trial show us about why we fear change? | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The British are, notoriously, sticklers for rules and order. Woe betide the person who jumps the queue, or he who throws litter in the street, for they will be punished with a litany of passive-aggressive tutting. The same is true of Underground users who ignore the command to “stand on the right and walk on the left”, and rightly so – rules are rules, after all, and on the whole they help maintain social order. Or they did until staff at Holborn station turned one of those time-honoured rulings on its head. | The British are, notoriously, sticklers for rules and order. Woe betide the person who jumps the queue, or he who throws litter in the street, for they will be punished with a litany of passive-aggressive tutting. The same is true of Underground users who ignore the command to “stand on the right and walk on the left”, and rightly so – rules are rules, after all, and on the whole they help maintain social order. Or they did until staff at Holborn station turned one of those time-honoured rulings on its head. |
| Related: The tube at a standstill: why TfL stopped people walking up the escalators | Related: The tube at a standstill: why TfL stopped people walking up the escalators |
| Transport for London’s novel solution to the congestion at the station makes perfect senses – and, during a trial last November it cut congestion at peak times by 30% - but commuters weren’t happy, and many chose to defy the change, sticking to their old habits. TfL staff had the unenviable task of trying to ensure several thousand commuters obeyed the new “standing-only” rule, and despite their best efforts, there were the inevitable renegades. | Transport for London’s novel solution to the congestion at the station makes perfect senses – and, during a trial last November it cut congestion at peak times by 30% - but commuters weren’t happy, and many chose to defy the change, sticking to their old habits. TfL staff had the unenviable task of trying to ensure several thousand commuters obeyed the new “standing-only” rule, and despite their best efforts, there were the inevitable renegades. |
| It’s not just the British who like to do things a certain way, of course – humans are creatures of habit, and if you want them to change their behaviour you can’t simply rely on logic to persuade them. Standing-only escalators make absolute sense at stations like Holborn, but that’s not the point. Recycling makes sense, as does exercising more and, although many of us understand the logic of “doing what is good for us” it takes rather more than that to actually change people’s behaviour. | It’s not just the British who like to do things a certain way, of course – humans are creatures of habit, and if you want them to change their behaviour you can’t simply rely on logic to persuade them. Standing-only escalators make absolute sense at stations like Holborn, but that’s not the point. Recycling makes sense, as does exercising more and, although many of us understand the logic of “doing what is good for us” it takes rather more than that to actually change people’s behaviour. |
| Exchange theory is quite clear about this: simply telling people to take a new approach is likely to be ineffective – after all, how many of us really like being told what to do by faceless organisations simply because they think we ought to do as they say? Many of our public health initiatives fail to understand this, opting instead to make life so inconvenient for people who smoke, for instance, that they simply stop doing so to make life easier – but it’s hardly the best way to influence people. | Exchange theory is quite clear about this: simply telling people to take a new approach is likely to be ineffective – after all, how many of us really like being told what to do by faceless organisations simply because they think we ought to do as they say? Many of our public health initiatives fail to understand this, opting instead to make life so inconvenient for people who smoke, for instance, that they simply stop doing so to make life easier – but it’s hardly the best way to influence people. |
| The trick, as it were, is in how you sell the novel approach – in essence, how do you make people believe that there’s value in the new behaviour, and how do you then motivate them to engage in it? | The trick, as it were, is in how you sell the novel approach – in essence, how do you make people believe that there’s value in the new behaviour, and how do you then motivate them to engage in it? |
| Knowing this, TfL has recruited the help of the behavioural sciences department at the London School of Economics in a bid to persuade commuters to follow the new rules. As well as instructions from staff, passengers will be prompted to change their habits using handprints painted on the handrails and “light messages” reminding them not to walk. But will this be enough to keep thousands of commuters in line? | Knowing this, TfL has recruited the help of the behavioural sciences department at the London School of Economics in a bid to persuade commuters to follow the new rules. As well as instructions from staff, passengers will be prompted to change their habits using handprints painted on the handrails and “light messages” reminding them not to walk. But will this be enough to keep thousands of commuters in line? |
| Once people start to see the value in the new behaviour they’re much more likely to engage in it | Once people start to see the value in the new behaviour they’re much more likely to engage in it |
| In 2009, Volkswagen teamed up with the marketing agency DDB Stockholm to try to encourage behaviour change through incentives. Unsurprisingly, people were 66% more likely to take the stairs than the escalators if the staircase was turned into a giant set of piano keys. Essentially, if you can motivate people to change based on an intrinsic motivation, you’re probably going to have more success. And although it can take around three to four months for new habits to become firmly embedded, once people start to see the value in the new behaviour they’re much more likely to engage in it. | In 2009, Volkswagen teamed up with the marketing agency DDB Stockholm to try to encourage behaviour change through incentives. Unsurprisingly, people were 66% more likely to take the stairs than the escalators if the staircase was turned into a giant set of piano keys. Essentially, if you can motivate people to change based on an intrinsic motivation, you’re probably going to have more success. And although it can take around three to four months for new habits to become firmly embedded, once people start to see the value in the new behaviour they’re much more likely to engage in it. |
| There will always be those who are less agreeable to changing their habits, and you’re probably fighting a losing battle if you try to persuade them to do it your way from the outset. By engaging those sympathetic to your views you’ll increase the number of people behaving in the desired way – and the need to conform is a powerful thing. | There will always be those who are less agreeable to changing their habits, and you’re probably fighting a losing battle if you try to persuade them to do it your way from the outset. By engaging those sympathetic to your views you’ll increase the number of people behaving in the desired way – and the need to conform is a powerful thing. |
| Will the techniques adopted by TfL and the LSE be successful? Perhaps, although it’s important people don’t feel they’re being harried by instructions or infuriated by an endless stream of playful recorded messages. But if TfL really want to incentivise you to stand still on the escalators they might be better off installing individual handrail screens allowing you to have a quick game of Tetris on your way to the office. | Will the techniques adopted by TfL and the LSE be successful? Perhaps, although it’s important people don’t feel they’re being harried by instructions or infuriated by an endless stream of playful recorded messages. But if TfL really want to incentivise you to stand still on the escalators they might be better off installing individual handrail screens allowing you to have a quick game of Tetris on your way to the office. |