Best Behavior Change Models: Expert Analysis

It emphasizes building behavior change from foundational elements like knowledge, ability, and motivation before deploying triggers, ensuring sustainable transformation.

According to Syed Murad and Effie Lai-Chong Law (2025), the Inverted Pyramid Model structures behavior change in four layers: 1) Knowledge: understanding what and why change is needed; 2) Ability: equipping individuals with skills and confidence; 3) Motivation: leveraging intrinsic and identity-based drivers; 4) Triggers: activating behavior once the foundation is solid. This approach flips traditional models that start with prompts or incentives, ensuring durability, resilience, and context-sensitive adoption.

It simplifies behavior into motivation, ability, and prompts, making it actionable and easy to apply across various contexts.

FBM posits that behavior occurs when motivation, ability, and a prompt converge simultaneously. BJ Fogg's research underpins the 'Tiny Habits' methodology, showing that small, incremental actions can compound into lasting behavior change. The model emphasizes that when motivation is low, ability must be high for behavior to occur, and vice versa.

Habits drive long-term behavior by creating automatic responses, reducing reliance on motivation and willpower.

Habit formation models explore how repeated actions in consistent contexts develop automaticity through the habit loop: cue, routine, and reward. Research by Wendy Wood and others shows that up to 45% of daily behaviors are habitual. These models leverage neural pathways that make behaviors automatic over time.

It highlights intrinsic motivation, which is key for sustained engagement and long-term behavior maintenance.

SDT explains that people sustain behaviors when they feel autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The theory distinguishes between autonomous motivation (driven by personal value) and controlled motivation (driven by external pressure), with the former leading to more persistent behavior change.

It offers a comprehensive framework for designing multi-level interventions that address capability, opportunity, and motivation.

BCW centers on the COM-B system: Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation drive Behavior. It provides a systematic method for characterizing behaviors and designing interventions across policy, environment, and individual levels. The wheel includes nine intervention functions and seven policy categories.

They recognize that behavior is shaped by individual, social, community, and policy layers, requiring comprehensive approaches.

These models stress alignment across multiple layers—from personal skills to community norms to systemic policies—enhancing effectiveness in addressing complex societal issues like obesity, climate change, and public health. Ecological models help identify leverage points at different levels and understand how factors interact across systems.

It changes choice architecture to make the sustainable option the easy, default choice without restricting freedom.

By using default options, visibility, and convenience, nudges help individuals consistently make sustainable choices. Effective in public policy and environmental interventions, nudges work by leveraging cognitive biases and heuristics to guide behavior while preserving autonomy.

It recognizes that change is a process, not an event, and allows for tailored interventions based on readiness.

TTM maps change through precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. The model also identifies processes of change that help individuals progress between stages. By recognizing that people at different stages require different interventions, TSM allows for more personalized and effective behavior change strategies.

It focuses on perceived risk and benefits, critical for preventive behaviors and health decision-making.

HBM suggests behavior occurs when perceived susceptibility and severity are high, benefits outweigh barriers, and cues and self-efficacy are present. Foundational in vaccination campaigns and disease prevention, the model helps explain why people engage in preventive health behaviors.

It links attitudes, norms, and perceived control to intention, which strongly predicts actual behavior.

TPB explains that intention is shaped by attitudes toward behavior, social norms, and perceived control. The model has been widely applied in health, environmental, and consumer behavior studies, demonstrating good predictive power for planned behaviors.

It highlights learning from others and self-efficacy, emphasizing the social context of behavior change.

SCT emphasizes reciprocal determinism between person, behavior, and environment. Observational learning and reinforcement are key components, along with self-efficacy beliefs that influence whether people will attempt and persist with behavior change.

It provides simple, cost-effective tools for influencing decisions through subtle changes in choice architecture.

By changing how options are presented, individuals can be nudged toward better choices without restricting freedom. Examples include organ donation defaults, healthy food placement, and energy consumption feedback. Nudges work by leveraging cognitive biases and heuristics that influence decision-making.