BJ Fogg’s model of behavior change is primarily an influencing model designed to initiate certain behaviors in individuals. The model explains what causes behavior change. The Fogg Model of Behavior Change states that B=MAP,  behavior  is a product of three factors: motivation, ability and prompt. If the gamification design is not working, these three elements should be re-evaluated and determined which element needs to be changed or improved, and the gamification design should be rearranged accordingly.

More specifically, the model says:

• The higher the individual’s motivation, the higher the probability of taking action,
• The easier it is to do something, the more likely the individual is to do it,
• Individuals can be mobilized to initiate an action or behavior.

Motivation

The main impulse that motivates someone to change their behavior is motivation. When motivation is high people can do hard things, but once motivation is low people will only do easy things. Motivation itself is a large and complex subject, and for the purposes of his model, Fogg breaks it down into three key factors: perception, anticipation, and belonging.

Sensation

Sensation refers to the physical driving forces of motivation. Individuals can be motivated to pursue positive physical emotions or to avoid negative physical emotions. Consumption and physical activities often lead to perceptual consequences. For example, activities that make people happy, such as running and eating chocolate, release endorphins.

Anticipation

Anticipation refers to the emotional drivers of motivation. Individuals can be motivated by their future expectations. Individuals may look forward to and pursue positive results, or they may fear negative results and try to avoid them. The types and levels of expectations people feel about the future will affect how they behave in the present.

Belonging

Belonging refers to the social drivers of motivation. Humans are basically social beings. We are all influenced by social drives such as acceptance, respect, status and praise.

Ability

When Fogg talks about talent, he’s not just talking about an individual’s ability to do something. Instead, he considers both his abilities and his opportunities. This includes a number of environmental factors that affect how easy it is for someone to do things. Fogg considers six factors that make up talent: time, money, physical effort, thought, social deviance, and the “non-routine” environment.

Time

Time is a scarce resource for everyone. The more time a behavior is expected to take, the less likely an individual is to do it.

Money

Just like time, money is a scarce resource for most people. The more money is associated with any behavior, the less likely individuals are generally to continue that behavior.

Physical Effort

Physical effort always involves a cost. Body and mind are designed to maintain our restricted calories. In most cases we tend to avoid physical exertion.

Thought

Thinking is laborious and tiring. Besides, we can’t do it well for very long. The more we have to think about doing something, the less likely people are to do it.

Social Deviance

Humans are social beings. Adaptation and belonging are important to humans for our survival. The more antisocial a behavior is, the less likely people are to engage in it.

Non-routine

It’s easy for us to follow routines. They reflect habits and are behaviors and activities that require less thought. The more routine we make our behaviors and activities, the more likely we are to stick to them.