Strategies for motivating safety belt use: the application of applied behavior analysis

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Abstract
The rationale, design and impact of strategies for prompting safety belt use are reviewed with special attention given to a particular discipline within behavioral science: applied behavior analysis. The motivational techniques are discussed within a basic ABC (antecedent-behavior-consequence) framework. More specifically, the promotion of safety belt use is reviewed with regard to the manipulation of environmental conditions (i.e. antecedents) which precede opportunities to buckle up, and events following the occurrence or non-occurrence of safety belt use (i.e. consequences). Media approaches, educational/awareness campaigns, incentives and disincentives, engineering technology, reminder displays and commitment tactics are reviewed as antecedent strategies for behavior change, whereas reward and punishment strategies are considered as consequence procedures. Successful corporate and community safety belt programs are highlighted and guidelines are presented for establishing large-scale campaigns for the cost-effective increase of safety belt usage. A comprehensive safety belt program requires not only effective techniques for motivating behavior change (as reviewed here), but also requires a specific location (to house the program), delivery agents (to implement the program) and sponsors (to cover program costs). The paper suggests a variety of location-agent-sponsor networks which represent particularly feasible models for community action.

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