Your customers say one thing and do another. That is not a problem. That is human nature. SUE teaches you to understand and influence consumer behaviour using the tools of behavioural science.
They design customer behaviour with SUE
500+ organisations • 15 years of Behavioural Design • 14 courses for every level
More budget. More reach. More messages. Yet conversion does not budge. Most marketing approaches fail because they assume a rational consumer. That consumer does not exist.
You have the right audience, the right channel and the right message. But conversion stays flat. The problem: you are optimising the communication while the choice context determines the behaviour. A better ad does not fix a bad choice environment.
Context drives 96% of choicesFeatures, benefits, USPs. Your proposition checks out on paper. But consumers don't buy on paper. They buy on feeling, ease and habit. If your competitor is easier, easier wins. Always.
Ease beats quality (Shafir)When conversion stalls, you lower the price. Or offer a discount. But price competition is a race to the bottom. Behavioural science offers dozens of levers that cost nothing: defaults, framing, social norms, loss aversion.
Loss aversion: 2× stronger than gain (Kahneman)Your customer journey is designed for a human being who does not exist: someone who seeks information, compares options, and makes a deliberate choice. The real human scrolls, hesitates, gets distracted, and picks the path of least resistance.
47% of behaviour is habitual (Wood & Neal)Want to learn how the Influence Framework works? Read the full article →
Daniel Kahneman identified two systems in our brain. System 2 is slow, analytical and rational. System 1 is fast, intuitive and makes 96% of all decisions.
Most marketing strategies target System 2: arguments, features, comparisons. But the brain that sees your ad, picks up your product and moves through your checkout is System 1. Understand System 1 and you design behaviour.
SUE combines Kahneman's insights with the Influence Framework: a diagnostic model that maps the forces that drive behaviour. Not manipulation, but design.
"You cannot not design. Every choice environment steers behaviour. The question is not whether you influence behaviour, but whether you do it deliberately."
— Tom de Bruyne, Gamechangers
Every decision moment is shaped by the interplay of two systems. Understand both and you can design behaviour. Target only System 2 and you lose 96% of your opportunities.
Fast, intuitive, effortless. System 1 decides based on recognition, ease and habits. It is the brain's default mode. This is where most purchase decisions are made.
Slow, analytical, deliberate. System 2 kicks in for complex or uncertain decisions. It costs energy and tires quickly. It looks for shortcuts to switch back to System 1.
The forces that block behaviour. Pains are the frustrations with the current situation. Anxieties are the uncertainties about the new situation. Together they form the resistance that blocks conversion.
The forces that attract behaviour. Gains are the desires for a better situation. Comforts are the habits that make the current situation feel safe. Both are levers for behaviour change.
Designing consumer behaviour is not a trick. It is built on decades of behavioural research.
Ap Dijksterhuis calculated that only 4% of our daily decisions are made consciously. The rest is driven by System 1: habits, context and emotion. If you only communicate rationally, you reach 4% of the brain.
Kahneman and Tversky showed that losing something weighs psychologically twice as heavy as gaining the same thing. That is why 'don't miss this' works better than 'take advantage of this.' Framing is not a trick — it is how the brain works.
In nearly every choice context, the majority picks the pre-selected option. Organ donation, pension savings, cookie banners — defaults determine behaviour. Design the default and you design the outcome.
Replace your rational product page with a choice architecture that speaks to System 1: one recommended option, visually distinguished, with social proof. Test the difference. You will be surprised.
Whether you want to learn the method yourself, transform your team, or need an organisation-wide approach: there is a path that fits. Every level builds on the same foundation: behavioural science instead of good intentions.
A full-day intensive training where you learn how consumers actually decide — and how to design the choice context. You apply the Influence Framework to your own marketing challenge.
For: Marketers, brand managers, product managers, growth hackers
For teams that want to stop guessing and start designing
"After the Fundamentals training we saw our checkout conversion increase by 34%. Not through a better ad, but through three small adjustments to the choice environment."
Head of E-commerce, Dutch retailerThe two-day Fundamentals Course is the foundation of Behavioural Design. You learn the complete method: from diagnosing behaviour to designing interventions. The training that changes everything.
For: Marketing teams, UX teams, product teams, strategists
For marketing directors, CMOs and CX managers who want lasting results
A multi-month programme where SUE acts as your Behavioural Design partner to analyse customer behaviour and redesign the choice context. From diagnosis and customer research to intervention design and optimisation.
For: Marketing directors, CMOs, CX managers, product leads
In Gamechangers, Tom de Bruyne explains how Behavioural Design is the key to understanding and influencing consumer behaviour. How to map the forces that drive choices, and how to design the choice context that makes desired behaviour the obvious choice.
Discover the book →The diagnostic model that maps the forces driving customer behaviour.
How adding a third option can strengthen the preference for your desired option.
The same information, presented differently, leads to different choices. This is how framing works.
Consumer behaviour is the sum of choices people make when buying, using and evaluating products and services. From a Behavioural Design perspective, we don't look at what people say they want, but at what they actually do. 96% of those decisions happen automatically through System 1: fast, intuitive and context-dependent.
Because they target the wrong brain. System 2 — the rational, analytical brain — is slow and lazy. It only kicks in during high-involvement or uncertain decisions. Most purchase decisions are made by System 1: based on ease, habits and social cues. If you only communicate rationally, you miss 96% of decision moments.
The SUE Influence Framework is a diagnostic model that maps the forces that drive behaviour. It distinguishes pains (frustrations), gains (desires), comforts (habits) and anxieties (uncertainties). By understanding these four forces, you design interventions that effectively steer behaviour — without manipulation.
Traditional marketing focuses on communication: the right message, at the right time, through the right channel. SUE looks broader: we analyse the entire choice context. Where does someone drop off? What barriers block conversion? Which defaults drive behaviour? We design the context, not just the message.
We work with organisations across all industries: from financial services, retail and e-commerce to telecom, FMCG and technology. Consumer behaviour is universal — the principles of Behavioural Design apply in any context where people make choices.
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