In a paper published in Health Psychology Review, we have proposed a framework for describing or categorising interventions to change behaviour by the degree to which their effects may be considered non-conscious. This is important because unhealthy behaviours often occur directly in response to environmental cues outside of conscious awareness, meaning that interventions that target non-conscious rather than conscious processes may have significant potential to shape healthier behaviours and improve health. However, examining this key premise requires a practicable conceptual framework that can be used to better describe and assess these interventions. This paper builds on a previous analysis by the same authors highlighting the importance of targeting automatic processes to change behaviour, published in Science in 2012.
Non-conscious processes in changing health-related behaviour: a conceptual analysis and framework. Hollands, Marteau, & Fletcher.