Behavioral Strategy: Behavior-First Strategic Planning
Last updated: 2026-02-02
The problem
Many behavior change initiatives fail because they skip a critical decision: choosing the target behavior.
Teams build products, launch campaigns, and design interventions. Then they wonder why people don’t act. By that point, leverage is low. The behavior was never validated for that audience in the first place.
The insight
Behavior Market Fit must come before Product Market Fit.
One major determinant of success is whether the initiative chose the right behavior for that audience during planning, not whether the solution is clever or the messaging is compelling.
Behavioral Strategy moves that decision to the strategy table and makes it explicit, measurable, and early.
Definition. Behavioral Strategy is an interdisciplinary discipline that makes behavior the unit of strategy. It selects or invents the target behavior for a defined population, validates feasibility in real context, then designs products, programs, policies, and operations around it to achieve Behavior Market Fit.
The method: Four‑Fit Hierarchy
Validate sequentially. Each gate depends on the previous one.
| Fit | Question | Pass Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| Problem Market Fit | Do users actively seek solutions? | The segment seeks solutions to a clearly defined problem |
| Behavior Market Fit | Can and will users perform this behavior? | The behavior clears feasibility thresholds in realistic contexts |
| Solution Market Fit | Does our solution enable the behavior? | The solution measurably reduces friction and increases payoff |
| Product Market Fit | Does the behavior persist at scale? | Sustained behavior with viable economics |
Heuristic: verify Problem Market Fit, then Behavior Market Fit, then Solution Market Fit, then Product Market Fit. Calibrate thresholds by domain.
How to apply it: DRIVE Framework
The DRIVE Framework is the execution process for achieving each Fit:
| DRIVE Phase | Achieves |
|---|---|
| Define | Problem Market Fit: Validate users seek solutions to this problem |
| Research | Behavior Market Fit: Validate users can and will perform this behavior |
| Integrate | Solution Market Fit: Design solution that enables the behavior |
| Verify | Product Market Fit: Confirm behavior persists at scale |
| Enhance | Sustain Product Market Fit: Iterate to maintain and improve |
The relationship:
- Four‑Fit Hierarchy defines what to validate
- DRIVE Framework defines how to do it
Use Four‑Fit to know what to validate. Use DRIVE to know how to do it.
Proof: Instagram pivot
Instagram began as Burbn, a location check-in app. Users weren’t checking in because the behavior didn’t fit.
The team observed what users were doing: sharing photos. They validated this behavior, pivoted the product around it, and achieved Behavior Market Fit.
See the full case: Instagram Pivot to Photo Sharing.
The rest is history: rapid growth to millions of users, acquisition by Facebook for $1 billion (TechCrunch, 2012).
The lesson: The product didn’t change behavior. Behavior selection changed the product.
How it works: The DRIVE Process
DRIVE is the execution process for achieving the Four Fits:
- Define: Articulate the goal, identify the population, validate the problem exists (→ Problem Market Fit)
- Research: Study context and behaviors, apply Behavior Fit Assessment, select target behavior (→ Behavior Market Fit)
- Integrate: Design solution that enables the validated behavior (→ Solution Market Fit)
- Verify: Measure behavioral KPIs in market; confirm behavior occurs (→ Product Market Fit)
- Enhance: Iterate based on behavioral data; sustain and improve (→ Sustain Product Market Fit)
Each DRIVE phase achieves one stage of the Four‑Fit Hierarchy. See DRIVE Framework for the full methodology.
What’s different
| Traditional Approach | Behavioral Strategy |
|---|---|
| Behavior considered after launch | Behavior selected at strategy formation |
| Features and messages as unit | Specific behavior for defined group as unit |
| Product Market Fit first | Behavior Market Fit first |
| Proxy metrics (clicks, enrollments) | Outcome metrics (Δ‑B, TTFB, bPMF) |
Apply by domain
Behavioral Strategy works across any domain where outcomes depend on human behavior:
- Technology: User activation, retention, feature adoption
- Healthcare: Medication adherence, screening completion, lifestyle change
- Financial Services: Savings behavior, debt repayment, enrollment
- Education: Study habits, completion rates, skill development
See all Applications.
Start here
New to Behavioral Strategy? → Definition: Canonical scope and terminology → Quick Start Guide: Learn the fundamentals in 10 minutes
Ready to apply? → DRIVE Framework: The five-phase implementation playbook → Four‑Fit Validator: Interactive assessment tool
Go deeper: → Case Library: 30+ cases with a consistent schema → Comparisons: Behavioral Strategy vs nudging, COM‑B/BCW, Fogg B=MAP, and more → Glossary: Key terms (Behavior Fit Assessment, BMF, bPMF, Δ‑B, TTFB, BSM) → Evidence Ledger: Sourced claims and research
Contact: hello@behavioralstrategy.com
© 2026 Jason Hreha. CC BY‑NC‑SA where noted. DRIVE is a trademark of Jason Hreha.