Is prescribing behavior rational or emotional? The Answer is Both… and Neither.

Behavioral science reveals the rational vs. emotional model to be a false dichotomy. Emotional and rational influences are not mutually exclusive but rather they interact in predictable ways. More importantly, there are fundamental barriers to changing prescribing behavior that must be addressed before any combination of rational or emotional appeals will have an impact. These fundamental barriers are rooted in the need for cognitive EASE. For many physicians, it’s not a matter of which treatment is measurably superior. Instead, it often comes down to which treatment requires the least amount of cognitive resources to implement.  

The question is, why would any self-respecting physician prioritize cognitive ease over quality of care?

The simple answer is that they’re human. No matter how brilliant physicians are, they have a limited pool of cognitive resources at their disposal and, unfortunately, this pool is already stretched impossibly thin.

When cognitive resources have been depleted and we are forced to make important decisions, we tend to do one of the following to ease the burden of choice:

Rely on existing habits.
Do what others are doing.
Avoid doing anything at all.

Research on prescribing behavior has shown that to work around their dearth of cognitive resources, physicians often rely on ready-to-wear treatments (Frank & Zeckhauser, 2007). This means that rather than carefully considering each treatment option for each unique patient, physicians will prescribe treatment X which, through a combination of established best-practices and their own experience as practitioners, they have learned is good enough for the vast majority of patients who fall into the same broad class of therapeutic needs. The reality is that, for most physicians, facts and figures are not persuasive because the cost in terms of the cognitive resources necessary to consider both treatments X and Y will outweigh the potential benefits.

The good news is that behavioral science has given us the tools to understand and penetrate the day-to-day constraints that drive physicians’ decision-making. By shifting from old models of decision-making (rational vs. emotional) to a new model that encompasses the cognitive and behavioral barriers to prescribing behavior, it is possible to cultivate highly impactful sales tactics.

Taking A Behavioral Design Approach:

Here are three key steps that you can take to greatly enhance the effectiveness of your sales tactics through the application of behavioral design:
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Step 1: Educate on HCP Heuristics & Biases

Arm your team with a critical understanding of human decision-making. Physicians, like all humans, utilize cognitive shortcuts called heuristics which allow them to make decisions as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Conducting behavioral research with HCPs will reveal the heuristic short cuts and bias gaps that will allow you to create targeted tools and tactics to drive more effective HCP engagement.‍

Here are a couple of examples:‍‍

Spacing Effect: Information that is encountered repeatedly over time is better learned and recalled.

• Consider the following scenario: An HCP is presented with substantial amount of information on product X only once, while they are exposed to smaller pieces of information on product Y repeatedly over a couple of weeks.
• Which product is the HCP more likely to remember? Product Y because repetition makes it easier for us access and remember information.

Take-The-Best Heuristic: When choosing between alternatives, we often focus on a single characteristic, rather than gathering all the information about each option. Our selection is based on that specific characteristic.

• Consider the following scenario: HCP X is presented with a detailed report comparing two products across all dimensions, while HCP Y is shown an overview of how the products compare, and then a detailed comparison focusing on one dimension that matters most to him (e.g., survival rate).
• Which HCP is more likely to make a faster decision? HCP Y because it is more efficient to focus on one significant dimension. Therefore, understanding the qualities of a product that matter most to the HCP is important.

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Step 2: Co-Create with Sales Teams

Sales reps are a monumental resource when it comes to understanding the types of communications that will resonate with physicians. Foster a collaborative approach that fuses behavioral science expertise with the wealth of experience and tacit knowledge of your sale representatives. A collaborative effort will lead to sales initiatives that are a stronger representation of the types of interactions that sales reps have with physicians on a daily basis. Involving the sales reps in the development process will also give them greater confidence in the materials, empowering them to deliver the message with even greater impact.

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Step 3:  Iterate with Feedback Loops

The landscape is constantly evolving and you must evolve with it. Ask for feedback regularly from sales reps to learn from their firsthand experiences with implementing your sales tactics. Use this opportunity to identify ways to further refine your tactics for maximum impact.

Ultimately, physicians shouldn’t be characterized as primarily emotional or rational beings, they should be viewed as humans with the same fundamental strengths and limitations as the rest of us. Using behavioral science to build sales strategies and tactics that are sensitive to these strengths and limitations is the only sure way to succeed.