S

solving the college binge drinking

problem

behavior design for

by Benjy Mercer-Golden

my goal

To persuade Stanford freshmen to not engage in binge drinking behavior1 on the weekends.

1 As defined by the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: “A pattern of alcohol consumption that brings the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to .08% or more. This pattern usually corresponds to 5 or more drinks on a single occasion for men or 4 or more drinks on a single occasion for women, generally within about 2 hours.”

if you were setting alcohol policy…

S “College students binge drink because they don’t fully understand the health/social dangers.”

therefore, we need to…

S educate

S  limit access

S punish

where has this gotten us?

S 44%

Source: 17,000+ student Harvard School of Public Health study. Published in Journal of American Medical Association. University of Michigan Institite for Social Research

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it’s time to re-think the

paradigm.

the #1 thing

Behavior change is predicated on getting people to do what they already want to do.

the #1 thing

Contrary to conventional belief, many (most?) college binge drinkers want to drink less.

^at least at Stanford

“There is nothing else to do except get

drunk on a Friday night”

designing for alternatives

S  Student center

S  Off-campus events

S  Dorm events – movies

S  Pay for kegs (limit pre-gaming)

rationale

S environmental + S social = S easier

let’s be smart on binge drinking, not

tough on it.

thank you