User:Maasi30/sandbox/Shikakeology

Shikakeology is an academic field that investigates the use of “shikakes”, which are embodied triggers, to change behaviour in order to solve social or personal problems. The term comes from the Japanese language and has various meanings: as a noun it refers to ‘‘a device, mechanism, contrivance, and system’’ and ‘‘to start, set up, prepare, and challenge’’ as a verb. Shikakeology was significantly coined by Dr. Naohiro Matsumura, a professor at the graduate school of economics at Osaka University in Japan where he is engaged in research about behavioural economics. Matsumura brought Shikakeology into being as a methodology for investigating shikake and creating new shikakes. The paper “Shikakeology: Designing Triggers for Behavior Change” by N. Matsumura, R. Fruchter, and L. Leifer is the basis for Shikakeology and aims to explain what shikake is and how it can be applied through the use of physiological and physical “triggers”.

Psychological triggers
Examining psychological triggers in the field of Shikakeology, N. Matsumura and R. Fruchter define them as a driving source for changing behaviour. Our psychological preference is affected by psychological triggers and the power of social pressure has been closely monitored through time. A psychological trigger has two supplementary divisions; motivation and social effect, each division containing a set of different reactions. The categorization of motivation is described as a trigger which directly arouses a positive or negative impulse. On the other hand, the social effect category aims at considering our social aspects among others and environments we are in. The way we cooperate, collaborate, compete, and our sensitivity to others. Highly focusing on the social codes of our society which we as human beings are prone to follow. As examples, Milgram and his colleagues reported findings of conformity and its increasing effect with group size growth. In 2006, Cialdini published a book about how people are influenced, and hence, persuaded in certain situations. He proposed six factors in regards to behaviour change: reciprocity, authority, social proof, commitment and consistency, liking and scarcity. There are many ways that one can use to “nudge” the way in which people behave. If these aspects do not work, motivation would be the final approach. Psychological triggers vary in their strength from one person to another, or whether they occur at all. It is not always said that a psychological trigger will change a person’s behaviour and shikake does not force anyone to act in a certain way.

Physical triggers
A physical trigger in shikakeology works both directly and indirectly. By direct function, a good physical trigger is defined as an object or element of an object that by visibility leads to an intuitive understanding of function and prediction of results. This perceived function was previously coined “affordance” by Norman and described more clearly as “form follows function” by Sullivan. By indirect function, a physical trigger can activate a previously described psychological trigger.



By this principle, a good physical trigger might be a tiny replica of a Torii gate, as it makes a spiritual connection immediately clear by sight, by imitating the bigger Torii’s that are in front of temples, and then indirectly triggers a psychological trigger, demanding respect for the building it is in front of. This then leads to the desired effects, like less littering.

Second and third level triggers
Shikakeology classifies triggers in hierarchical categories. First level categories are psychological and physical triggers.

Second and third level physiological triggers
Physiological triggers can either be feedback or feedforward. Feedback triggers are designed to “(...) to make people understand the progress and achievements, enjoy the interactive process, and behave mindfully rather than mindlessly.” They can be classified into third level categories of:
 * Auditory category triggers


 * Haptic category triggers
 * Olfactory category triggers
 * Taste category triggers
 * Visual category triggers

Feedforward categories describe triggers that have an effect on “(...) the perceived characteristics of availability, functionality, and usability acquired from an artifact.” Third level categories are:


 * Analogy triggers - Well known objects in an unusual environment provide new context to it.


 * Perceived affordance triggers - The design of an object or trigger points towards its use.

Second and third level psychological triggers
Psychological triggers are subdivided into the second level categories of individual context and personal context. Individual context categories refer to triggers that “(...)directly arouse(s) a positive or negative impulse.” Third level individual context categories are:


 * Challenge category triggers
 * Dissonance category triggers
 * Negative expectation category triggers
 * Positive expectation category triggers
 * Reward category triggers
 * Self-esteem category triggers

Social context triggers work through mechanisms based in our social dynamics of competing, collaborating and cooperating. Third level categories are:


 * Being watched category triggers
 * Social norm category triggers
 * Social proof category triggers: Behaviour of others as a validation for a certain behavior to be right.

Interaction of psychological and physical triggers
In Shikakeology, psychological and physical triggers do not act separately in changing behaviour. The two factors are closely interrelated, and work together to lead to effective changes. The physical triggers are used to bring forth the psychological triggers, while the psychological triggers are the ones who cause the change in behaviour - whether that is personal or social. An example of how this works, is that of the urinal fly. In this example, initially tried out at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, a fly is forged in urinals in the men’s bathroom. Upon seeing the fly that was strategically placed to reduce spillage, the men aimed at it for no other reason aside from the fun of it. This resulted in an 80% reduction of spillage, leading to less cleaning expenses, less use of water, and a general reduction in environmental pollution. The small physical trigger of the fly, therefore, brings forth the psychological trigger, causing a behavioral change, which, in turn, leads to a larger societal change. The decision to aim at the fly was only motivated by fun, which is considered the most effective way to change behaviour for the better - a theory that is known as The Fun Theory, combining physical and psychological triggers, as seen above.

Related theory
The theory related to Shikakeology is the Nudge theory. The theory was developed by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein and was published in 2008 in their book Nudge (book). The theory describes how small environmental triggers are supposed to change people's behaviours. Nudges work through heuristics and cognitive bias but do not aspire to punish but rather encourage people to engage in alternative behaviours. Shikakeology and Nudge theory are related through their primary goal of shifting people's behaviour towards alternatives.

Nudges aim at changing negative pre-existing behaviours or behaviours that result from unconscious actions. The cues work through heuristics and cognitive biases and therefore aspire to lead towards an alternative behavior. Usually, this change targets the socially more approved and preferred behaviour. Shikakes imply behavioral change through physical and/ or psychological triggers that are available in the proximate environment of individuals. The triggers encourage alternative behaviours that targeted people feel obligated to act on.

Since nudges try to provide simple and small cues that lead to behavioural change, they can thus function as a psychological shikake themselves. Therefore, shikakeology is not purely based on the nudge theory but targets behavioural change through different tools. However, both concepts are closely related through their primary goal of altering behavior.

Piano stairs
Shikakeology can be implemented in everyday life. At a subway stop in Germany researchers have built a specific staircase. The stairs were decorated as if it were a piano, this piano requires people to use their feet instead of their fingers. The stairs attracted a lot of attention from passers by and therefore instead of using the escalator, located directly next to the stairs, people were encouraged to use the stairs. These stairs were built by Volkswagen fun theory, which is a marketing campaign by Volkswagen that promotes positve behaviour in a fun way. They reported that the amount of people using the stairs increased by 66%. None of the people at the subway station were forced to take the stairs instead of the escalator, the ones that were interested voluntarily used the piano staircase.

A lot of people have a pleasant experience listening to or even playing piano music, the appearance of that staircase makes for an easy association of these stairs with the piano. This association is the main trigger for people to use these special stairs. In this case shikake is implemented in this case by the use of technology. Therefore shikake is in this case realized as a combination of design, psychology and technology.

Speed camera
In an attempt to decrease the amount of traffic accidents that happen every year, different Shikake’s have been tried. For example, a camera that measures the speed of cars and shows these on a speed limit sign. If a car follows the speed limit, the speed limit sign will turn green, if the car is above the speed limit the sign turns orange or red. This method of placing speed limit signs is however not connected to the authorities, therefore drivers will not be punished with a penalty if they drive too fast. Despite that, it is seen as a very effective Shikake, as drivers become aware of their speed and are confronted about driving too fast in a child-friendly neighbourhood, which makes them slow down. An additional method was invented to contribute to the speed limit signs described above. A campaign was started in which people who drove within the speed limit could be rewarded with a lottery prize, the prize would be sent to the houses of some people who maintained the speed limit. This method was successful as well, in Sweden, where this method was tested, the driving speed reduced with 22 percent. These Shikake’s tend to psychologically trigger car drivers to slow down because they want to achieve their goal of driving within the speed limit and they hope to be rewarded for it by winning a lottery prize. It is not very usual for a Shikake to rely on technology, because that makes the Shikake more expensive and time consuming to make. However, it can be concluded from this example that technologically working Shikake possess a strong trigger for people to behave differently.

Urinal fly
Another implication of the Shikake cases is the so-called Urinal fly. A fake fly is imprinted onto a urinal in men’s bathrooms. Just by seeing this fly, men instinctively target this fly. The fly is located and designed to determine the “sweet spot”, in order to produce the least possible splashbacks. The desired result, a reduction in spillage, is reached and therefore an improvement in the cleanness of men’s bathrooms is achieved. The success of the flies and their effectiveness in terms of increased cleanness, lead to worldwide use of similar target stickers in men’s bathrooms, including bees, darts and flames, which change their color with change in temperature. The flies and various different targets will lead to instinctually, psychological triggers to aim at the target. In the implication of urical flies, a playful challenge of hitting a target is considered a potential mechanism. The implicit challenge sets an unwritten goal into people’s minds. It makes people want to hit the target although there is no reason to have to hit it, leading to a temptation to aim for the target, which most men cannot resist, seen in the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, where spillage was reduced 80%.

Tiny shrine gate
Shikakes have also been used to induce prosocial behavior through the use of culturally dependent triggers, such as the Tiny Shinto Shrine. A tiny replica of a gate to a Shinto Shrine is placed in or near litter disposals to induce respect and reduce littering. The way in which this works, is based on the broken window theory or the snowball effect which describes how small acts have the power to trigger a bigger result, in this case a positive one. Because it is not economically affordable to keep and maintain a  perfectly clean area around trash cans, the tiny shrine induces a small trigger to reduce littering around the trash can. If there is no litter in the area, people are less likely to litter.

Other methods such as placing anti-litter signs or installing security cameras are possibilities, but they can lead to a negative atmosphere of caution and might have implications in the trust atmosphere of the neighborhood. The tiny shrine is more elegant, simple and avoids these implications. The small physical trigger of a Shinto Shrine replica will lead to people associating the area as a holy place, a place to be respected, and where one should not litter. This also has the effect of preventing bad behavior such as dog owners being more likely to pick up their dogs’ excrement from the area.

This shikake is used as a physical object trigger that induces a psychological trigger, because it gives the impression or reminds people of a holy place. The underlying mechanism of this shikake is the analogy created in people’s mind of a holy shrine gate, which is connected to the associated social norm, inducing behavior that fits the social norm observed in the presence of a holy shrine gate.

Culturally dependent shikakes, such as this tiny shrine, can be strong triggers due to social norms, but they can also be counterproductive if used inappropriately by not accounting for potential sensitivities that might make people upset. If a culturally dependant shikake is used in a place where the people in the area don’t have an association with it, don’t know what it is, and cannot understand the social norm associated with it, the desired behavioral change is less likely to occur.