BEHAVES-in-action
Global Pharmaceutical company:
Using behavioural science
to improve compliance messaging
Part 2
BEHAVES-in-action
Global Pharmaceutical company:
Using behavioural science
to improve compliance messaging
Part 2
Client: Compliance team, pharmaceuticals | Work: Email compliance messaging rewrite
Approach: Qualitative research + EAST framework + behavioural science insights
If you have just landed here, welcome!
But before you read this part 2 of how we have worked with this client, read part 1 here.
If you have just landed here, welcome!
But before you read this part 2 of how we have worked with this client, read part 1 here.
The challenge
Our client’s compliance emails were doing an important job – protecting patients, teams, and the organisation. But the messages weren’t consistently helping asset owners take action quickly and confidently.
The Digital Asset Compliance (DAC) team couldn’t do this alone. They needed input from thousands of colleagues across the globe, from all departments, all seniority levels, all time zones. And those colleagues were busy.
But when messages feel technical, impersonal, or hard to follow, they don’t just create confusion, they create delay. And delay is a compliance risk.
What we did
Before writing a single word, we met with the end-users – the recipients of all that compliance messaging – and listened. Through interviews with a cross-section of asset owners across the organisation, a consistent picture began to emerge.
Our in-depth behaviour review included:
- Interviewing a cross-section of employees to hear what worked and what didn’t.
- Testing the platform, to see where the friction was.
- Reviewing the supporting documents, to check for knowledge gaps
The end result was concrete next steps on what our client’s audience wanted, and how we could deliver a better experience to them.
What the research showed
People weren’t refusing to comply. They were struggling to understand:
83
%
felt there was not enough actionable guidance to help them respond
80
%
had limited knowledge of the compliance process and their role as an asset owner
75
%
found the language too technical
67
%
couldn’t identify a clear point of contact when they got stuck
58
%
felt the language was unfair or alarmist—and therefore off-putting
Many described the tone as robotic, or accusatory. They perceived messages as coming from an automated system – not from a team of real people who were on their side.
Behavioural science in action
Using the Behavioural Insights Team’s EAST framework—Easy, Attractive, Social, Timely—and the insights gathered across three working sessions with the compliance team, we rewrote:
7
recommission emails
12
cookie categorisation emails
26
decommission emails
All 45 messages were redesigned to feel less like warnings from a faceless system, and more like guidance from a helpful colleague.
All 45 messages were redesigned to feel less like warnings from a faceless system, and more like guidance from a helpful colleague.
EAST in practice
Easy
Richard Thaler’s number one mantra from Nudge: “Make it easy.” Humans make around 33,000–35,000 decisions a day, so we naturally gravitate towards ease.
Long sentences, dense phrasing, and buried actions all make users work too hard. We shortened, chunked, and simplified throughout.
See the example below.
We also gave users a clear support pathway for when they got stuck, by directing them to a shiny set of new FAQs or aTOM, their AI powered assistant.
Example
Before: “It is required that decommissioned assets are rendered unavailable and/or redirect to an appropriate destination.”
After: “Just to remind you, decommissioned assets should be taken offline or redirected to the right site.”
Attractive
Compliance emails don’t need to be overly warm or entertaining – but they do need to feel human. Drawing on Cialdini’s principles of persuasion (authority, liking, reciprocity, commitment), we made the messages warmer, more personal, and more motivating.
See the example below.
We introduced personal sign-offs, added ‘Hi <name>’ greetings, and designed layouts that guide the eye to what matters most.
Example
Before: “The failure to adhere to your responsibilities …”
After: “While we appreciate that sometimes things can slip through, it’s important to resolve this quickly.”
Social
When people see messages from what they assume is a faceless automated system, they’re less likely to engage – so we made the DAC team visible, human, and present. Plus, compliance messaging should highlight that we’re all in this together, working as a team – rather than seeming to divide us into different “sides”.
We suggested a new framing email to introduce the updated approach – setting context, demonstrating that user feedback has been heard, and using second-person language throughout (‘you’ / ‘your’) to increase personal relevance (in fact, we know that addressing the other party as “you” is associated with a more personal and engaging conversation, as individuals tend to favour things that are personally relevant.)
See the example below.
Example
Before: “[Task] has triggered because our automated checks have detected that some of the cookies are not categorised correctly on your asset.”
After: “We’ve noticed that some cookies on your [asset] are categorised incorrectly.”
Timely
Evidence from the Behavioural Insights Team shows that the same message, sent at different times, can have drastically different levels of success. So, we made sure that time-sensitive actions were communicated with more context, and changed the way time and urgency was framed in the language used.
For example, to create a sense of manageable effort, we used the present tense (“this only takes a few minutes”, instead of the future tense, i.e “this will only take a few minutes”).
Can you see the difference? Our aim was to ask the recipient to take a few minutes to do something right now, in this moment – rather than to take on a task (that may be perceived as time-intensive) at a vague, indetermined time in the future, when it will invariably be forgotten or gather dust at the bottom of a long to-do list.
See the example below.
Example
Before: “This is a friendly reminder to complete ___…’
After: “This task only takes about 5 minutes…”
EAST in practice
Easy
Richard Thaler’s number one mantra from Nudge: “Make it easy.” Humans make around 33,000–35,000 decisions a day, so we naturally gravitate towards ease.
Long sentences, dense phrasing, and buried actions all make users work too hard. We shortened, chunked, and simplified throughout.
See the example to the right.
We also gave users a clear support pathway for when they got stuck, by directing them to a shiny set of new FAQs or aTOM, their AI powered assistant.
Example
Before: “It is required that decommissioned assets are rendered unavailable and/or redirect to an appropriate destination.”
After: “Just to remind you, decommissioned assets should be taken offline or redirected to the right site.”
Attractive
Compliance emails don’t need to be overly warm or entertaining – but they do need to feel human. Drawing on Cialdini’s principles of persuasion (authority, liking, reciprocity, commitment), we made the messages warmer, more personal, and more motivating.
See the example to the right.
We introduced personal sign-offs, added ‘Hi <name>’ greetings, and designed layouts that guide the eye to what matters most.
Example
Before: “The failure to adhere to your responsibilities …”
After: “While we appreciate that sometimes things can slip through, it’s important to resolve this quickly.”
Social
When people see messages from what they assume is a faceless automated system, they’re less likely to engage – so we made the DAC team visible, human, and present. Plus, compliance messaging should highlight that we’re all in this together, working as a team – rather than seeming to divide us into different “sides”.
We suggested a new framing email to introduce the updated approach – setting context, demonstrating that user feedback has been heard, and using second-person language throughout (‘you’ / ‘your’) to increase personal relevance (in fact, we know that addressing the other party as “you” is associated with a more personal and engaging conversation, as individuals tend to favour things that are personally relevant.)
See the example to the right.
Example
Before: “[Task] has triggered because our automated checks have detected that some of the cookies are not categorised correctly on your asset.”
After: “We’ve noticed that some cookies on your [asset] are categorised incorrectly.”
Timely
Evidence from the Behavioural Insights Team shows that the same message, sent at different times, can have drastically different levels of success. So, we made sure that time-sensitive actions were communicated with more context, and changed the way time and urgency was framed in the language used.
For example, to create a sense of manageable effort, we used the present tense (“this only takes a few minutes”, instead of the future tense, i.e “this will only take a few minutes”).
Can you see the difference? Our aim was to ask the recipient to take a few minutes to do something right now, in this moment – rather than to take on a task (that may be perceived as time-intensive) at a vague, indetermined time in the future, when it will invariably be forgotten or gather dust at the bottom of a long to-do list.
See the example to the right.
Example
Before: “This is a friendly reminder to complete ___…’
After: “This task only takes about 5 minutes…”
Overall principles
This work drew on established behavioural science principles:
- Cognitive load reduction – make it easy to understand and act
- Plain language and clarity for action – reduce ambiguity, increase confidence
- Social proof and trust cues – demonstrate that real humans are behind the messages
- Cialdini’s six principles of persuasion – authority, reciprocity, liking, commitment, social proof, scarcity
- Narrative effects – context-setting to prime users for positive change
- Timely messaging – urgency without threat, encouragement to act sooner rather than later
What happens next
The rewritten messages are ready to implement. The next step is measurement.
After 3+ months of live use, we recommend evaluating impact through:
- Follow-up user research or focus groups to gather qualitative feedback
- Quick pulse surveys on message clarity and confidence
- Monitoring reductions in escalations
- Monitoring time-to-task-closure
We’re excited to support our client in tracking and building on these results.
Are your compliance messages being ignored?
It’s rarely because people don’t care. It’s usually because the message is too hard to act on.
We can help → behaves.works