Behavioural economics provides a relevant theoretical framework to explain and predict people's seemingly irrational behaviour towards their health. By viewing individuals as non-rational actors with predictable behavioural biases, they can be guided or “nudged" towards more wise decisions without limiting their freedom of choice or drastically changing their economic incentives. This project looks at two complementary health risk behaviours, (un)healthy eating and physical (in)activity, and analyses how persuasive cues or 'nudges' can be applied in interactive, just-in-time (JIT) interventions tailored to an individual's unique characteristics, needs and context. 

Currently, there is still a huge gap between the technical capacity needed to provide customised communication and existing theoretical frameworks on behaviour and behavioural change. The main objective of this project is to fill this gap by developing and testing an integrative theoretical framework on how JIT interventions influence health behaviour. It is achieved by (i) taking an interdisciplinary perspective, (ii) providing the key technological building blocks that make JIT interventions possible and (iii) testing the effectiveness of different interventions for different individuals in different contexts.