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Behavioural insights.

Evidence-led insight into what people do and why.

Behavioural insight consultancy that gives you confidence to design policies, services and campaigns that work in the real world, under real constraints.

Assumptions are expensive.

When decisions are made without behavioural insight, organisations take avoidable risks. Interventions may be well-intentioned and well-executed – but still underperform.

This often happens when decisions rely on perceptions or self-reported views alone, without understanding the behaviours those perceptions do, or don’t, translate into.

Without evidence of what is driving behaviour, it’s easy to:

  • Invest in the wrong lever
  • Overestimate impact
  • Miss variation between groups
  • Trigger unintended consequences

Insight you can stand behind.

We give decision-makers confidence – in what they do, what they say, and how they justify it.

Our work focuses on behaviours, not just perceptions, attitudes or intentions. We use proven behavioural science frameworks to explain why behaviours occur and where change is realistically possible.

That means our clients can:

  • Communicate more boldly, knowing messages are behaviourally grounded
  • Design interventions with a higher likelihood of uptake and sustainability
  • Present decisions with evidence that stands up to scrutiny

What our insight delivers.

01.

Behavioural diagnosis

What’s happening now, and what’s driving it across capability, opportunity and motivation.
02.

Meaningful segmentation

Where behaviours differ between groups – and where uniform approaches will fail.
03.

Clear implications

What this means for policy, services or communications – and where effort is best focused.

Behavioural science, applied properly.

Our approach is grounded in recognised behavioural science, strengthened by academic consultancy and delivered in line with recognised research standards, such as the MRS Code of Conduct and ethical, transparent and proportionate research design.

We draw on:

  • COM-B and the Behaviour Change Wheel
  • Stages of Change
  • EAST and related evidence-based principles

Research standards you can trust.

All research is designed and delivered in line with the MRS Code of Conduct, with transparent reporting of confidence levels and limitations – supporting clear, informed decision-making.

Anna Headshot

Anna Hutton
MSc Behaviour Change (forthcoming)

Anna oversees all behavioural insight work; she leads research design, quality assurance, and ethical governance across projects. Anna ensures insights are grounded in peer-reviewed evidence, shaped by academic collaboration with the University of Derby, and translated responsibly into practice.
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A disciplined approach to insight.

Our work follows a clear, evidence-led process – designed to reduce uncertainty and deliver insight you can act on with confidence.
01.

Review

We start with what’s already known – evidence, data and context.
02.

Design

We shape research around the decisions you need to make, selecting methods and samples that fit the context.
03.

Explore

We gather data through surveys, interviews, or focus groups – always centred on real behaviour, not perception alone.
04.

Analyse

We interpret findings through theory-informed frameworks to identify the points that matter most.
05.

Translate

We turn insight into clear, usable guidance, delivered in formats that work for your context.
Two Marketers at Computer

Responsibility is built in.

Behavioural insight consultancy carries responsibility, particularly in public, health and social contexts.

Our work is:

  • Ethical, transparent and proportionate
  • Designed with safeguarding in mind
  • Clear about uncertainty and limitations
  • Informed by systems thinking to anticipate unintended consequences
  • Responsible by design in data handling and privacy (Cyber Essentials compliant)
  • Our behavioural insight service in action
Slough Borough Council
Helping carers start conversations that matter.
Derventio Housing Trust
Making safety personal - Through the people around you.
Birmingham City Council
Reaching the communities most at risk.
Freeva
Helping schools create safer spaces for children.
Every Action Counts
Turning local insight into safer communities.

“MacMartin delivered a wonderful website for a very complex environmental project – we went live last week and have already been inundated with compliments from partners and stakeholders. The site is incredibly well thought out, attractive, professional and easy to navigate.

The MacMartin team were a pleasure to work with from start to finish – they are excellent communicators, highly creative and strategic. They clearly take huge pride in delivering great work, I couldn’t recommend them highly enough.”

Marianne Abbott
Communications Officer at Natural England
Natural England Logo Colour

“We had a great experience working collaboratively with the MacMartin team which has resulted in the successful build of our new website. We believe the website offers an alternative and fresh approach which sets us apart to others in the financial services industry… this which was one of our main objectives.

Big thanks to MacMartin for meeting the projected timeline and making the project a success!”

Olivia Bettles
Assistant Office Manager & Paraplanner at Fogwill & Jones
  • FAQs

01.

Is this just research under a different name?

No. Behavioural insight focuses explicitly on behaviour and its drivers, using theory-informed analysis rather than opinion alone.
02.

Can this be scaled to our budget and timeline?

Yes. We design research to be proportionate to the decision being made.
03.

Will this lead to practical action?

That’s the point. Our outputs are designed to inform real-world decisions.
  • Service features

01.

Behavioural diagnosis

Clear analysis of current behaviour and its underlying drivers.
02.

Evidence review

Structured review of existing data, research, and prior evidence.

03.

Insight & implications

Clear interpretation of findings, including confidence and limitations.

04.

Behavioural segmentation

Behaviour-based grouping to identify meaningful differences between people.
05.

Behavioural research

Primary research designed to uncover real-world behaviours.

06.

Intervention direction

Evidence-led guidance on which behavioural levers to prioritise.
07.

Evaluation framework

Proportionate plans to measure outcomes and support learning.
08.

Ethical oversight

Rigorous governance aligned with recognised research standards.

Ground your next move in evidence.

Get in touch with Anna, Director of Communications and Behaviour Change, to discuss your behaviour change project. 

  • Explore our other services
Behaviour change campaigns
Blueprint framework
Branding
Web design