Behavioural science

The Consumer Duty would be almost unthinkable without advances in behavioural science.

Prudent firms have been proactive in assessing their own compliance with the duty, trying to see their business through the regulator’s eyes. Without the behavioural science lens, these assessments are largely futile.

The FCA uses behavioural science to assess the design of customer communications, the suitability of distribution, the fairness of pricing, and the effectiveness of customer support. 

Evidence that you have similarly used behavioural science is evidence that you have embedded the Consumer Duty.

Firms ask us to review their choice architecture and product design from a behavioural science perspective. These behavioural science reviews are sometimes called ‘sludge audits’, as we are looking to find examples of ‘sludges’ (amongst other things).

Our team of experienced and multi-disciplinary behavioural scientists advises firms on how to embed behavioural science and identify sludges, deceptive patterns, and other causes of poor customer outcomes.

The summary of our framework is shown below.

Fairer Finance’s framework for embedding behavioural science

Source: Fairer Finance.