Contextual cues play an important role in facilitating behaviour change. They not only support memory but may also help to make the new behaviour automatic through the formation of new routines. However, previous research shows that when people start a new behaviour, they tend to select cues that lack effectiveness for prompting behaviour. Therefore, it is important to understand what influences cue selection, as this can help to identify acceptable cues, which in turn could inform future behaviour change interventions to help people select cues that best fit their context and so ensure continued repetition. We conducted a qualitative study to investigate what cues people select, how, and what influences their decisions. We recruited 39 participants and asked them to take vitamin C tablets daily for 3 weeks and later interviewed them about their experience. Quantitative habit strength and memory measures were taken for descriptive purposes. Cue selection was primarily influenced by a desire to minimise effort, e.g. keeping related objects at hand or in a visible place; prior experience with similar behaviours (regardless of whether the cues used in the past were reliable or not); and beliefs about effective approaches. In addition, we found that suboptimal remembering strategies involved reliance on a single cue and loosely defined plans that do not specify cues. Moreover, for many participants, identifying optimal cues required trial and error, as people were rarely able to anticipate in advance what approach would work best for them. Future behaviour change interventions that rely on routine behaviours might fruitfully include the provision of educational information regarding what approaches are suboptimal (single factors, vaguely defined plans) and what is most likely to work (combining multiple clearly defined cues). They should also assess people’s existing beliefs about how to best remember specific behaviours as such beliefs can either enhance or inhibit the cues they select. Finally, interventions should account for the fact that early failures to remember are part of the process of developing a reliable remembering strategy and to be expected.

中文翻译：

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当开始新的日常行为时，什么会影响情境线索的选择？一项探索性研究。

情境线索在促进行为改变方面发挥着重要作用。它们不仅支持记忆，还可以通过形成新的例程帮助使新行为自动化。然而，先前的研究表明，当人们开始新的行为时，他们倾向于选择缺乏促进行为有效性的线索。因此，了解影响线索选择的因素非常重要，因为这可以帮助识别可接受的线索，进而可以为未来的行为改变干预措施提供信息，帮助人们选择最适合其情境的线索，从而确保持续重复。我们进行了一项定性研究，以调查人们选择的线索、方式以及影响他们决策的因素。我们招募了 39 名参与者，要求他们每天服用维生素 C 片，持续 3 周，随后采访了他们的经历。出于描述目的而采取定量的习惯强度和记忆测量。提示选择主要受到尽量减少努力的愿望的影响，例如将相关物体放在手边或可见的地方；以前有类似行为的经验（无论过去使用的线索是否可靠）；以及对有效方法的信念。此外，我们发现次优记忆策略涉及依赖单一提示和不指定提示的松散定义的计划。此外，对于许多参与者来说，确定最佳线索需要反复试验，因为人们很少能够提前预测哪种方法最适合他们。未来依赖于常规行为的行为改变干预措施可能会卓有成效，包括提供关于哪些方法不是最理想的（单一因素、模糊定义的计划）和什么最有可能有效（结合多个明确定义的线索）的教育信息。他们还应该评估人们关于如何最好地记住特定行为的现有信念，因为这些信念可以增强或抑制他们选择的线索。最后，干预措施应该考虑到这样一个事实：早期的记忆失败是制定可靠的记忆策略过程的一部分，并且是可以预料到的。