Fogg Behavior Model

The Fogg Behavior Model is a universal way of thinking about the drivers of behavior change. According to the model, there are three main elements that are needed for a change to occur.1

1. Motivation: This is the desire to perform the behavior. A person’s motivation can vary from low to high, denoting the difficulty of the task they can handle. For instance, someone unmotivated may only be able to complete an easy task, while someone highly motivated may be able to complete a hard task. There are three core motivators:
2. Sensation: The physical pleasure or pain we experience. For example, the feeling of pleasure pushes us to continue doing something, while the feeling of pain makes us want to stop.
3. Anticipation: The emotional hope or fear we feel. For instance, the feeling of hope drives us to continue while the feeling of fear makes us avoid an activity.
4. Belonging: The experience of social acceptance or rejection. For example, a sense of belonging encourages us to continue while rejection is discouraging.
5. Ability: This refers to the ease or difficulty of performing the behavior. There are six factors that influence people’s ability: time, money, physical effort, brain cycles (mental effort), social deviance, and non-routine.
6. Prompt: This is the trigger or cue that initiates the behavior. Someone can be very motivated and have the appropriate ability to perform the behavior—but without a call to action, it is unlikely any change will occur. Prompts can appear in many different forms such as text, human speech, or AI-facilitated dialogue. Overall, there are three types of prompts:
7. Facilitator: When motivation is high, but ability is low, a facilitator can help by making the behavior easier to perform.
8. Spark: When motivation is low, but ability is high, a spark can boost motivation.
9. Signal: When both motivation and ability are high, something as simple as a signal can prompt the behavior.

It is important to note the compensatory relationship between motivation and ability. In other words, differing levels of motivation and ability can balance each other out. For instance, when motivation is high, ability can be low. So when a prompt appears, behavior change still occurs.

The Fogg Behavior Model is illustrated in the graph below.

The “action line” in the FBM graph represents the threshold at which behavior occurs. Behaviors above this line indicate sufficient levels of motivation and ability triggered by a prompt, while behaviors below the line lack one or more of these elements. The convergence of motivation, ability, and a prompt to produce behavior change can be summarized in the following equation:

 B = MAP

What makes the Fogg Behavior Model unique when compared to other theories of behavior change? One, it suggests that behavior comes from the converging presence of three elements. Second, the detailed outline of each element’s subcomponents highlights the specificity of the model. Finally, the model is useful for designing interventions and products that aim to change behavior from maintaining health behaviors to being active on a social media app.²