When Messaging Hits but Behavior Misses

Your campaign is working. Well, sort of....

The emails are getting opened and people are clicking through. The creative is performing above your set benchmark and your dashboards are looking great across the board…. but here's the thing nobody wants to talk about: the actual behavior you said you would drive isn't moving.

What do I mean by this? Patients aren't refilling prescriptions, employees aren't enrolling in benefits and customers aren't upgrading their accounts. The gap between "message delivered" and "action taken" is wider than anyone wants to admit.

Most teams respond by tweaking the copy, testing new subject lines, or increasing frequency, and yes, sometimes that works… but when engagement metrics look good and behavior stays the same, you're not dealing with a creative problem.

You're dealing with behavioral friction.

If You're Seeing This Now

Before we go deeper, here's something I made that you can use right now. Take one message that looks like it should be working, but isn't and use this quick map to find the friction.

Look for the psychological interpretation, not just the technical function.

→Where does the message assume something that the recipient doesn't accept? →Where might the tone, sequence, or timing create resistance?

You don't need a full behavioral team to start seeing these patterns (though if you need one we can always help you). You just need a structured way to look for them.

That's why we created the BOOST Framework, which I am sharing with you.

The BOOST Framework

BOOST is made to systematically identify where communication breaks down:

We like to say that BOOST is Behavioral Outcome-Oriented Strategic Targeting, which has the following 5 stages:

Behavior - Define the specific action you want
Observe - Diagnose where psychological friction occurs
Organize - Map system requirements against behavioral barriers
Shape - Redesign message hierarchy to reduce friction
Test - Measure actual behavior change, not just engagement

Remember, most friction happens at the intersection of what your organization needs to say and what your audience needs to hear. Things like legal language designed to protect the company accidentally threatens user autonomy or compliance messaging treats people as incapable when they want to feel competent.

BOOST helps you map these conflicts so you can get better outcomes.

Where Friction Hides

Though there can be friction in many places, here are four that constantly come up:

Identity Conflict: Language that talks down to people undermines capability. "You must complete..." triggers more resistance than "You're ready to complete..."

Effort Misrepresentation: Messages accidentally signal big commitments. "Complete your annual benefits enrollment" sounds like homework. "Choose your health plan" sounds like self-care.

Timing Mismatch: System-driven scheduling conflicts with behavioral readiness. Productivity reminders during vacation or complex decisions when people are rushed.

Channel Misfit: High-urgency content delivered through low-urgency channels. Personal information via impersonal systems.

Each pattern is fixable, and you don't need to eliminate legal language or rebuild infrastructure. You need to understand how system requirements interact with psychology and design around that intersection.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Lets explore three scenarios:

Scenario 1: Software company struggling with feature adoption despite strong onboarding metrics

Their messaging focuses on "unlocking premium features" → accidentally positioning advanced features as additional work rather than natural capability development. Reframe it as "You've mastered the basics, here's what you can do next".

Scenario 2: HR team with high email engagement but low benefits enrollment

The friction might live in language like "Don't miss the deadline to select your coverage." That frames benefits as a compliance task rather than a self-care decision. "Choose your coverage for next year" removes the threat while maintaining urgency.

Scenario 3: Health system that needs to send medication reminders

Legal requires language like "Failure to adhere to your prescribed treatment plan may result in serious health complications." Accurate, necessary, yet psychologically not great.

Using BOOST, you could restructure the message hierarchy. Instead of leading with "Ensure consistent medication adherence," you'd start with "Stay in control of your health." Same legal language, different psychological frame. The compliance text stays but no longer dominates perception.

In scenarios like these, behavior is enabled and so is change… because you reduced friction between what the system needed to communicate and what people needed to hear.

The Real Work

Most teams assume reducing friction requires major overhauls. The BOOST framework shows that its less complicated that you think. You can usually fix the problem through message re-sequencing rather than message rewriting.

For example, look at the message design on your worst-performing campaign. Map every piece of required language against basic psychological needs: autonomy (choice and control), competence (capability and effectiveness), and relatedness (connection and belonging).

Where does the language accidentally suggest people can't be trusted to make good decisions? That's autonomy friction.

Where does it imply the behavior is complicated or requires special expertise? That's competence friction.

Where does it position the organization as authority and the audience as subjects? That's relatedness friction.

Once you identify the conflicts, you can fix them through careful re-sequencing. Lead with autonomy supporting language, then include required disclaimers. Frame effort accurately rather than accidentally overselling complexity. Position your organization as supportive rather than supervisory. (of course everything with context.. these are illustrative examples, not copy paste ones)

I’ve learnt that the most powerful changes are often the smallest ones. The difference between "You must complete..." and "You're ready to complete..." The choice between "Failure to..." and "Here's what happens next..." The decision to lead with motivation rather than obligation.

These aren't creative decisions. They're behavioral design decisions.

What to Do Next

If your campaign is working but behavior isn't moving, here's your diagnostic checklist:

Audit your opening lines. Do they affirm capability ("You're ready to...") or signal mistrust ("You must...")? Identity conflicts kill conversion faster than bad creative.

Map your required language. Where do compliance needs clash with psychological needs? Lead with autonomy-supporting language, then include the disclaimers. Sequence matters more than wordsmithing.

Check your timing. Are you asking for complex decisions when people are rushed? Sending productivity tips during vacation? Timing misalignment creates resistance you'll never overcome with better copy.

Match channel to content. Does your medium support the intimacy your message requires? High-urgency content through low-urgency channels confuses rather than converts.

Teams that consistently drive behavior change stop optimizing messages and start mapping friction. They understand that every communication lands in a system shaped by organizational requirements, technical constraints, and human psychology. When those align, behavior follows naturally. When they conflict, even brilliant execution fails.

BOOST gives you a systematic way to diagnose these conflicts before they kill your conversion. Because the question isn't whether your message is good, it's whether it works within the behavioral reality where your audience will encounter it.

I will be sharing more about BOOST and how we use it in future posts, to inspire you to take a behavioral approach to your comms.

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If we haven’t met yet, I’m Robert Meza – a behavioral systems strategist and founder of Aim for Behavior. I work with leaders and teams worldwide to uncover the friction points that quietly stall progress. If this resonates with you, leave a comment – I read every response. Have a great day, Robert