SUPERHUB: Integrating behaviour change theories into a sustainable urban-mobility platform

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SUPERHUB: Integrating behaviour
change theories into a sustainable
urban-mobility platform
Paula J. Forbes
paula.forbes@abdn.ac.uk
Simon Wells
simon.wells@abdn.ac.uk
Judith Masthoff
j.masthoff@abdn.ac.uk
Hien Nguyen
n.nguyen@abdn.ac.uk
Computing Science, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UE
The SUPERHUB project (SUstainable and PERsuasive Human Users moBility in future cities)"
promotes the creation of a new urban mobility services ecosystem to facilitate the take-up of
environmentally sustainable behaviours. It will design and test an open platform able to combine in
real time all mobility offers from the relevant stakeholders together with a set of enabling mobility
services able to address users’ mobility needs and to foster behavioural change. This paper
explores how SUPERHUB plans to integrate behaviour change theories.
Keywords. Behaviour Change, Greenhouse Gas Reduction, Sustainable Travel, Persuasion, Transport, Urban Mobility.
1. INTRODUCTION
World population is increasingly city based with
51% or 3.5 billion people living in urban areas.
Existing mobility systems are under strain and are
using increasing amounts of resources. The
transport sector represents 30% of the final energy
consumption of the EU and is a major source of
greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants. If we are
to ensure sustainable development for Europe as
well as meet EU targets for greenhouse gas
emissions and energy efficiency it is vital that we
have an efficient and usable mobility system that
has as little impact on the environment as possible.
SUPERHUB aims to provide an integrated,
multimodal system that supports transport needs
and encourages environmentally sustainable
choices to help limit the environmental impact of
transport. It is a collaboration of 20 European
partners, including academic institutions, transport
companies, environmental agencies and city
councils. (See superhub-project.eu for a full list and
more detail). Another aim is to investigate what are
the most effective methods to persuade people to
adopt environmentally sustainable behaviour. To
achieve behaviour change, one option is to lower
the barrier for uptake of a behaviour, so a system
that makes it easier for people to find mobility
information, book public transport and share lifts
may encourage sustainable behaviour. Therefore,
SUPERHUB aims to empower people with
information, providing accurate, real time data on
travel options and any disruptions to services, and
providing support for car pooling and taxi sharing.
Crowd sourcing will be used to provide up-to-date
information (e.g., on transport delays and the
crowdedness of busses), whilst care will be taken
to ensure the reliability of information. Additionally,
behaviour change can be achieved by employing
more direct behaviour change techniques.
SUPERHUB will therefore support the setting of
individual mobility related goals (e.g. use public
transport or provide a lift at least once a week), and
provide feedback on mobility behaviour and
encouragement to do better. SUPERHUB will also
exploit the potential of serious games and social
networks to sensitize people and make them reflect
about their environmental behaviour. This paper is
mainly concerned with the second way of achieving
behaviour change, and explores how to integrate
behaviour change theories into SUPERHUB.
2. HOW CAN WE PERSUADE PEOPLE TO
MAKE SUSTAINABLE CHOICES?
There is a section of society that is committed to
the environment and will do what they can to
reduce their carbon footprint. Others may take
more persuading to make more sustainable travel
choices. Anable (2005) states that travel research
methodology and policy interventions often
overlook how the combination of instrumental,
situational and psychological factors affect travel
choice and how these differ for distinct groups of
people. Understanding what will motivate people to
change their behaviour is a key element of
successful persuasion. For example, visualising the
amount of CO2 produced over a year may work for
some whereas for others finding out the amount of
money they could save by taking the bus rather
than driving may be more motivating (as found in
our focus groups). Different people will respond
more or less to different cues and we aim to
investigate what the most effective methods for
persuasion are and how they can be implemented.
We want to provide a personalized system that
optimally persuades people to make more
environmentally aware transport choices.
© The Authors. Published by BISL.
Proceedings of BCS HCI 2012 Workshops
Using Technology to Facilitate Behaviour Change
and Support Healthy, Sustainable Living

SUPERHUB: Integrating behaviour change theories into a sustainable urban-mobility platform
Paula Forbes, Simon Wells, Judith Masthoff, Hien Nguyen
2
3. PERSUASIVE TECHNOLOGY
Persuasive technology is technology specifically
designed to change people’s attitudes and/or
behaviours (Fogg, 2003). Persuasion implies a
voluntary change, without using coercion.
Persuasive systems aimed at changing behaviour
are often called “Digital behaviour interventions”.
3.1 Theories of behaviour change
There is growing evidence that using behaviour
change theory leads to more effective
interventions. For example, a systematic review of
85 studies involving 43,236 participants found that
“the effectiveness of Internet-based interventions is
associated with more extensive use of theory (in
particular the use of the theory of planned
behaviour)” (Webb, 2010). Many theories exist; see
Jackson (2005) for an overview. These theories
help to identify the key behavioural determinants
(Michie et al, 2005). These determinants are then
targeted by behaviour-change techniques.
Advantages of the theory-based approach include:
(1) interventions are likely to be more effective if
they target causal determinants of behaviour and
behaviour change; this requires understanding
these causal determinants, i.e. theoretical
mechanisms of change; (2) theory-based
interventions facilitate an understanding of what
works and thus a basis for developing better theory
across different contexts, population and
behaviours; (3) vice versa, theories can be tested
and developed by evaluations of interventions only
if those interventions and evaluations are
theoretically informed. Fogg (2003) proposed an
integrated model within the field of persuasive
technology. Aiming at intervention designers who
need an easy-to-use practical framework, Fogg’s
behaviour model is deliberately simple: it states
that three elements -namely motivation, ability and
a trigger- must occur at the same time for
behaviour to happen. The lack of any of these three
elements will cause non-compliance. The Fogg
model says that if you get the motivators right, and
if the behaviour is made easier for people to do,
and if you trigger it - then the behaviour is more
likely to occur. Considering the many theories,
some attempts, based on expert consensus, have
been carried out to identify a set of common
behaviour determinants. Fishbein et al (2001)
analysed behaviour change theories to change
people from risky to healthy HIV preventive
behaviours. They identified eights factors that
enable predicting and understanding behaviour.
Michie et al (2005) analysed 33 theories with 128
constructs (including the 5 used by Fishbein et al)
from a wide variety of fields, and identified 12
factors that are most likely to influence behaviour.
3.2 Behaviour change techniques
Behaviour change techniques are strategies used
to promote behaviour change (Webb, 2010). For
example, an intervention designed to encourage
people to walk more can ask them to monitor their
daily step count to raise their awareness of their
current behaviour – the ‘self-monitoring’ technique.
Each theory of behaviour change is associated with
a number of techniques, each of which can be
further mapped to a specific behavioural predictor
defined in the theory. Many researchers have
attempted to create a taxonomy of behaviour
change techniques. For example, the taxonomy
developed by Michie et al. (2008) has defined and
mapped 137 techniques to 11 behavioural
predictors with the indication of where they can be
used effectively. Behaviour change theories can be
used to predict which combinations of techniques
are likely to be most effective. For instance, Control
Theory suggests how feedback may interact with
other techniques to change behaviour. In the
domain of healthy eating and physical activity
interventions, Michie et al’s (2009) meta-analysis of
122 studies found that interventions that combined
self-monitoring with at least one other “self-
regulatory” technique were twice as effective when
compared with other interventions. Based on their
analysis, they suggested the inclusion of five
techniques: prompting intention formation,
prompting specific goal setting, providing feedback
on performance, prompting self-monitoring of
behaviour, and prompting review of goals.
3.3 Personalising the intervention
Theories of behaviour change agree that any
voluntary change of behaviour is not an event, but
a process (e.g. Prochaska & Norcross, 2001). This
process can go from not wanting to change, to
considering change, to making and maintaining
permanent change. Such a process develops over
a long time. This is particularly true when the
problematic behaviour is an everyday habit (e.g.
travelling by car). People neither go through the
process of change in the same order nor at the
same speed. Additionally, behavioural
determinants, the most appropriate behaviour
change techniques and optimal mode of delivery
may depend on the user. Any behaviour
intervention, therefore, must be tailored to the
beliefs, preferences, and circumstances of each
individual. Empirical evidence supports this view; a
meta-analysis by Noar et al. (2007) showed tailored
messages outperformed comparison messages in
affecting health behaviour change.
4. EXISTING PERSUASIVE TECHNOLOGY
FOR SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT
Although the majority of research into persuasive
technology has been in the health domain, there
are examples of persuasive technology research in
the transport domain. A particular focus has been

SUPERHUB: Integrating behaviour change theories into a sustainable urban-mobility platform
Paula Forbes, Simon Wells, Judith Masthoff, Hien Nguyen
3
on 'mobility management' systems that motivate
people to use more sustainable forms of transport
by providing detailed travel information, incentives
for selecting more sustainable modes of transport,
and applying marketing techniques which focus on
individual travel behaviours (Jones, 2003;
Taniguchi et. al. 2007). For EU countries, the
European Platform on Mobility Management
(EPOMM) and the European Local Transport
Information Service (ELTIS) provide a large
number of case studies about implementing
mobility management measures. In the transport
domain, the dominant form of digital behaviour
intervention is the 'travel feedback program' which
gives feedback on CO2 emissions estimates,
advice on car use reduction, information on public
transport, etc. Examples include Travel Blending
(Rose & Ampt, 2001), TravelSmart (Ampt &
Rooney, 1999), Wise Ways to Use Cars (Taniguchi
et al 2003), and the UK personalized travel
planning systems reported in the Smarter Choices
document (Cairns et al, 2004). To give an
indication of the effectiveness of these approaches,
a meta-analysis in Japan by Taniguchi et. al.
(2007) of travel feedback programs found a mean
reduction in car use of 19%, while the Cairns et al.
(2004) analysis in the UK reported a 7-15%
reduction in car use in urban areas.
5. DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF SUPERHUB
To ensure that SUPERHUB provides an effective
tool, it will be developed in a User-Centric way,
putting the user at the heart of the design process.
Our target users will be anyone who travels and
could use more environmentally sustainable modes
of transport than they currently do, even for some
of the journeys that are made. We also aim to
support those already using sustainable transport.
Requirements gathering research has already
taken place in SUPERHUB’s three trial cities:
Barcelona, Helsinki and Milan. Quantitative data
was obtained by questionnaire (about 200
responses per city) and qualitative data by running
Focus Groups (about 10 focus groups in each city,
using different kinds of transport users). Scenarios
were developed to showcase the core SUPERHUB
functionalities, relevant scenarios were then
discussed in the Focus Groups. This initial
research provided a large amount of data on
demographics, current transport usage, problems
experienced, mobility preferences as well as
feedback and inspiration for new scenarios. The
wide range of attitudinal data will ensure that we
are as well informed of the needs of the target
users as possible. Full details of this preliminary
work can be found in the Superhub deliverable
D1.1 (www.superhub-project.eu). Data is still
undergoing analysis but we intend to carry out
factor analysis and then segmentation analysis to
identify homogenous groups or clusters of cases.
We are currently running a series of Participatory
Design workshops with a variety of end-users who
will play a key role in the development of the
system. In each city, the SUPERHUB
functionalities will then be tested in a realistic
environment with more than 200 users,
investigating the impact of SUPERHUB solutions in
different contextual backgrounds. We are also
developing Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) to
measure how successful aspects of the system
are. KPI’s would include measurements of long
term user adoption, user satisfaction, attitude
change and knowledge of environmental issues.
6. PERSUASIVE TECHNOLOGY IN SUPERHUB
SUPERHUB plans to go beyond the state of the art
for persuasive systems within the sustainable
transport domain in two main ways. Firstly, it will
work with users through participatory design and
user-centred development to build a system in
which the functionality focuses on the real-world
transport needs of the user. Secondly, it will
develop a system that is able to facilitate desirable
behavioural shifts by utilising much more of the
potential of persuasive technologies. SUPERHUB
will facilitate behavioural shifts using a subset of
the techniques identified by Michie et al (2008).
The following techniques (which include the five
found most effective by Michie et al., 2009) will
form the core of SUPERHUB’s intervention:
• Prompting intention formation, specific goal
setting and goal review. Users set specific
mobility related goals which are reviewed
regularly to determine to what extent the goal
has been met and whether to adjust it.
• Monitoring, feedback, and rewards.
Participants’ travel behaviour is monitored,
feedback on behaviour is provided, and
rewards are provided if appropriate. The
rewards to use (e.g. reduced bus fares, social
recognition) will be determined during
participatory design.
• (Social) Comparison. Comparative data
shows participants how their behaviour
compares with their past behaviour, and that of
others in the community or support group.
• Prompts and personalisation. Participants
are prompted at appropriate times to change
their behaviour, e.g., to provide a lift or use
public transport. Prompts are personalised to
participants’ characteristics and contextual
circumstances. For example, the focus groups
showed that adaptation is needed to the
weather and travel company.
• Aiding decision-making. Users will be
provided with sufficient appropriate information
to enable them to make informed decisions
about their travel behaviour.

SUPERHUB: Integrating behaviour change theories into a sustainable urban-mobility platform
Paula Forbes, Simon Wells, Judith Masthoff, Hien Nguyen
4
SUPERHUB will use information push via mobile
devices to prompt users about their transport
decisions and to make suggestions about
alternatives. For example, when a user has
indicated that they are willing, in principle, to take
part in car-pooling, SMS can be used to organise
an impromptu car-pool in real-time rather than
relying on pre-arranged, longer-term planning.
Decisions about how and when to make these
kinds of interventions will be based upon data-
mining of users’ profiles and travel-behaviour
metrics and use contextual information such as
adverse weather. Furthermore, data mining
enables alternative behaviours to be suggested.
For example, when the system has learnt about a
user's regular travel habits, suggestions can be
made such as to try public transport for a given leg
of their journey. In this way the persuasive
elements of the systems seamlessly integrate into
the travel planning functionality. Data-mining will
also be used to inform the persuasive functionality
in profile matching, users whose profiles suggest
compatibility may be matched up for a car-pooling
or taxi sharing offer if their travel plans coincide.
We aim to create a synthesis of automated digital
interventions based on intelligent analysis of
tracked user behaviour together with explicit goal
setting, adjustment, achievement-tracking,
feedback and incentive mechanisms. Automated
interventions will cover un-prompted, opportunistic
contextual interventions, such as suggesting
alternatives , like renting a bike when a scheduled
bus is late, or utilising social compatibility matching
to formulate persuasive messages encouraging a
user to join a car pool with someone with whom
they have similar hobbies, as well as the supportive
role found in conscious goal-setting based
approaches to behaviour management.
7. FUTURE WORK
We are currently running participatory design
workshops to inspire the user interface and the
persuasive component.! We! will! perform
foundational research into mobility behaviour and
expectations, with special attention to sustainability
and motivational aspects; create mock-ups and
prototypes to be used in formative and summative
evaluations. Testing will be scaled up later to
include around 1000 people per trial city. Further
details can be found at: superhub-project.eu!
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