Social Innovation Studio

January 31st, 2025

Ankita Mirani, Social Designer and Founder @Social Innovation Studio

COM-B

A Blueprint for Social Behaviour Change

Behaviour Change Framework Break Down

Photo credit: Social Innovation Studio

What’s Inside:

COM-B: An Overview

Capability: Building the Right Skills and Knowledge

Opportunity: Creating Enabling Environments

Motivation: Triggering

the Desire to Act

Applying COM-B Model to

your Projects

COM-B (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation- Behaviour)

As social changemakers, frameworks make our toolkits effective and versatile. They help us structure our thoughts and ideas into implementable plans. COM-B (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation- Behaviour) is a framework designed by Susan Michie, Maartje van Stralen, and Robert West in 2011. In this article we will take you through a step by step breakdown of the framework.

The framework suggests that to engage in a behaviour (B), a person needs to have the capability (C), opportunity (O) and motivation (M) to perform that behaviour, so any behaviour change will require modifying at least one of those components.

Capability: Building the Right Skills and Knowledge

Capability refers to an individual's or community's psychological and physical ability to carry out a behavior. Psychological capability includes the knowledge required to execute the behavior and the mental skills essential for tasks like focus, memory, or decision-making. Physical capability, on the other hand, involves bodily functions such as strength, endurance, or coordination necessary for the behavior.

🔎 Explore Physical & Psychological capabilities, ask this:

What physical skills does the target group need to adopt this behavior?

Do they have the intellectual knowledge and problem-solving abilities required?

What emotional barriers like fear, lack of confidence could hinder their participation?

How can we foster social skills to help them engage with peers or stakeholders?

📋 Build capabilities, do this:

Conduct a skill gap analysis to identify what the community lacks.

Design interactive training sessions that integrate hands-on learning with reflective exercises to build both knowledge and confidence.

Create peer-support groups to nurture collaboration and mutual learning.

Opportunity: Creating Enabling Environments

Opportunity refers to the external factors—physical and social—that make a behavior feasible. Physical opportunity includes resources, infrastructure, and time, while social opportunity involves influence from peers, family, or societal norms.

🔎 Explore Opportunities, ask this:

What environmental factors support or hinder this behavior?

Do they have access to the physical resources needed (e.g., tools, time, spaces)?

Who in their social circle influences their decision to adopt or avoid this behavior?

How can we create a supportive social network to normalize the behavior?

📋 Build opportunities, do this:

Map the physical environment to identify gaps in resources and access.

Work with community leaders or influencers to advocate for the behavior.

Use behavior modeling by showcasing relatable examples of success.

Motivation: Triggering the Desire to Act

Motivation involves the internal processes that drive or inhibit a behavior. These processes can be reflective (plans, beliefs, goals) or automatic (habits, emotions). Motivation ensures that individuals prioritize a specific behavior over competing alternatives.

🔎 Explore Community Motivation, ask this:

What beliefs or attitudes does the target group hold about the behavior?

Are there conflicting behaviors or habits that need to be addressed?

How can we leverage positive emotions to sustain the behavior?

What incentives or rewards can reinforce the desired behavior?

🔎 Build Motivation, ask this:

Design goal-setting exercises to align their personal aspirations with the behavior.

Use storytelling to evoke positive emotions and inspire action.

Create habit-forming activities by breaking the behavior into small, achievable steps

Applying Com-B Model to your Projects

The COM-B model is a versatile tool that non-profits can use to design programs that are actionable and sustainable. By focusing on Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation, you can address the root causes of behavioral challenges and create interventions that genuinely transform lives. Here is a step by step breakdown of how you can approach integrating such a framework in your projects:

Diagram inspired by decisionlab.com

Understand the Behavior:
Define the problem clearly, specify the target behavior, and identify what needs to change (barriers and enablers).

Identify Intervention Options
Choose suitable intervention functions (e.g., training, incentivization, persuasion) and align with policy categories to support the change.

Determine Implementation Strategies
Select behavior change techniques (e.g., goal setting, feedback) and decide on the mode of delivery (e.g., workshops, digital platforms).

This framework isn't just a one-size-fits-all; it's a blueprint for customization. Let the COM-B model be your guide in enabling mindset and practice shifts, one community at a time.

Want to see what the COM-B model looks like in practice? Click to read the article.