How behavioural insight strengthens the social side of ESG
Posted by Marketing & PR on 22 Apr 2026
ESG is now part of everyday business conversation. Most organisations have clear environmental targets and governance frameworks in place, and reporting has become far more sophisticated over the past few years.
But the social side of ESG still tends to be the hardest to pin down, and even harder to deliver in a way that feels real.
That’s because it doesn’t sit neatly in a spreadsheet. It shows up in how people behave, how they treat each other, and the decisions they make when no one’s watching. Even a well thought through social ESG strategy can struggle if it doesn’t take that into account.
What the “social” in ESG really means
At its core, the social pillar is about people. That might sound obvious, but it’s often where things get overlooked.
It covers areas such as:
● Employee wellbeing
● Inclusion and diversity
● Community impact
● Trust and ethical behaviour
All of these rely on consistency over time, not one-off initiatives or top-down messaging. That’s why many ESG engagement strategies don’t quite land. There’s usually no shortage of communication or intent, but there’s often a gap when it comes to how those ideas actually translate into everyday behaviour.
The gap between ambition and action
If you look at most organisations on paper, the ambition is there. There are defined ESG social impact goals, clear policies and regular updates.
But step back and look at what’s actually happening day to day, and it can feel different. Initiatives don’t always get the traction they’re expected to. People are aware of them, but not necessarily acting on them. ESG can start to feel like something that sits alongside the business rather than being part of it.
That disconnect isn’t unusual. It’s just human nature. People tend to follow habits, respond to what others around them are doing, and default to what feels easiest in the moment. Knowing the right thing doesn’t always mean it becomes the natural thing to do.
If ESG is going to make a genuine difference, it needs to work with those behaviours, not assume they’ll change on their own.
What are behavioural insights in ESG?
This is where behavioural insights ESG starts to make a difference.
It’s essentially about understanding how people really make decisions, not how we think they should. It looks at the small influences that shape behaviour, including:
● Habits and routines
● Bias and perception
● Social cues and peer influence
● The environment people operate in
Instead of relying solely on instructions or policies, it focuses on making the right behaviour feel obvious, easy, and part of the flow of everyday work. That’s what makes it so effective for behaviour change sustainability, where consistency matters far more than intention.
How to uncover behavioural insights for ESG
Understanding behaviour isn’t about guesswork. It comes from taking a closer look at how people actually interact with your organisation, rather than how you expect them to.
A good starting point is to explore where there’s already a gap between intention and action. If an initiative isn’t landing, there’s usually a behavioural reason behind it.
In practice, that often means:
• Looking at real behaviour, not just reported attitudes or survey responses
• Identifying friction points where processes feel difficult, unclear or time-consuming
• Observing how social norms influence decisions across teams
• Analysing where people default to easier or more familiar choices
• Speaking to employees and stakeholders to understand what’s getting in the way
Data plays a role here, but so does context. Behavioural insight comes from combining both, using what people say alongside what they actually do.
From there, organisations can start to test small changes, adjusting how choices are presented, simplifying actions, or introducing subtle prompts to guide behaviour. Over time, these small shifts build a clearer picture of what works and where real change can happen.
How behavioural insight strengthens the social side of ESG
One of the biggest shifts behavioural insight brings is moving away from the idea that awareness leads to action. In reality, most people already know what they should be doing. The challenge is making it happen consistently.
That might mean simplifying processes to reduce friction, or changing how choices are presented so the better option feels like the natural choice. When done well, it doesn’t feel forced; it just fits.
It also helps ESG become part of everyday decision-making rather than something separate. By integrating human behaviour ESG principles into existing workflows, organisations can ensure people don’t have to go out of their way to do the right thing.
Culture plays a big role here too. Policies set direction, but culture is shaped by what people see around them. When positive behaviours are visible and shared, they become normal. That’s how ESG culture change really takes hold, gradually rather than all at once.
There’s also a noticeable difference in how people engage. When ESG feels like something being imposed, it’s easy to switch off. When it feels relevant and achievable, people are far more likely to take part. Over time, that leads to stronger stakeholder behaviour ESG across the organisation.
Another benefit is that it makes progress easier to understand. The social side of ESG has always been harder to measure, but behavioural approaches allow for testing, learning and adjusting along the way. It’s a more practical way to address common ESG implementation challenges because it’s based on what actually works in real-world situations.
Why this matters now
There’s a noticeable shift happening in how ESG is being judged. It’s no longer enough to publish targets or highlight intentions. People want to see what’s changed and whether it’s made a difference.
Without a focus on behaviour, there’s a risk that ESG starts to feel surface-level. The language is there, the reporting is there, but the day-to-day reality doesn’t move in the same direction.
That’s where behavioural insights ESG becomes so important. It connects the strategy with what actually happens in practice, helping organisations turn good intentions into something more tangible.
The organisations that will make the most progress are those that take the time to understand how people behave and build their approach around that understanding. When they do, the social side of ESG shifts from messaging to momentum.
Because in the end, ESG isn’t something people read. It’s something they do.
Our Expertise
We’ve been creating highly successful social marketing campaigns for our customers for over two decades. We love our work and utilise the latest marketing communication tools and customer insight techniques, including ethnographic research and co-creation workshops.
This enables us to develop and integrate marketing concepts with other approaches to influence behaviour in ways that benefit individuals and entire communities for the greater good.
Within our team, we have leading, nationally recognised academic professionals in Psychology, Mental Health, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy who advise on which messages and media will deliver the best response when we scope a communications campaign or deliver any targeted communications.
This provides our clients with the reassurance and confidence that their communication objectives are underpinned by recognised academic behavioural theory, executed with award-winning creative design, and delivered using the latest Marketing Automation communication tools, whether on a local, regional, or national project.
Perfect Circle has delivered social change for clients such as schools, local government, not-for-profit organisations, the health sector, and niche commercial businesses, and we’re really proud of what we’ve done so far.
If you’d like our help on your next Behaviour Change Marketing or Social Marketing campaign, we’d love to hear from you. Please visit our contact page and get in touch.
The power of automated marketing
Download Report