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Human behaviour is a very complex area. This document, Communications and behaviour change,  draws on key sources from the disciplines of social psychology, economics and behavioural economics (where the first two disciplines overlap).

The report is published by the Central Office for Information and it seeks to distil this information into some key factors that are important to consider for anyone developing communications that seek to influence behaviour, and to develop a framework for applying these factors to the development of a communications strategy. Included in the document are sections on the key influences on behaviour and how to embed behavioural theory in your work:

What influences people's behaviour?
This section outlines some of the key factors that influence behaviour. It draws on a range of social psychological theories and includes three examples of behavioural models. The section also gives an overview of the key principles of behavioural economics and of the best known theories of change. Case studies provide a practical illustration of how models and theories have been used to inform government communications.

Embedding behavioural theory
A five-step framework shows how, by increasing our understanding of behaviour, behavioural theory can help to define the role for communications and build a communications model. The Department of Health's Tobacco Control campaign is used to show how each step of the process might work in practice. The section concludes with a summary of the steps and a series of questions designed to stimulate thinking at each stage.

http://coi.gov.uk/aboutcoi.php?page=328