Insights into the complexity of behaviours: the MOAB framework

Purpose This paper aims to integrate existing thinking and provide new insights into the complexity of behaviours to improve understanding of the nature of these behaviours. This paper expands social marketing theory by introducing the Motivation–Opportunity–Ability–Behaviour (MOAB) framework to assist in understanding the nature of social marketing behaviours by extending the Motivation–Opportunity–Ability (MOA) framework. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper that proposes the MOAB framework to understand the complexity of behaviours. Findings This new tool will provide social marketers with an improved understanding of the differences between behaviours targeted by social marketers. Specifically, it provides a definition and application of complexity in social marketing that will facilitate the development of consumer insights and subsequent social marketing programs that more sufficiently account for the complexity of target behaviours. Research limitations/implications This proposed MOAB framework offers a foundation for future research to expand upon. Further research is recommended to empirically test the proposed framework. Originality/value This paper seeks to advance the theoretical base of social marketing by providing new insights to understand the nature of the behaviour in social marketing to assist social marketers to move beyond attempts to treat all behaviours as if they are the same.