Why Emotionally Intelligent Copy Drives Health and Climate Action

I’ve been thinking recently about the changes I made in terms of prioritising my health and being more eco conscious. Where did it all start, how did I get to where I am now, and what messages did I see and hear along the way that prompted me to make changes? 

I know there wasn’t one particular message that really spoke to me. It would have been little things I saw here and there. And when I started learning more about it, then suddenly it was everywhere. My friends and family definitely had an impact too. And I didn’t make massive changes. The changes I did make benefitted me in some way – at least in the long term – or I don’t think I would have done anything. 

I remember swapping disposable cotton wool for reusable face clothes. I’d already been thinking about changes I could make then I saw some nice face clothes in Primark on my lunch break when I was living in Barcelona. (I still love the Primark face clothes). It was a permanent switch as they turned out to be better for my skin and worked out cheaper in the long term.

What, then, can copywriters learn from my Primark face cloth experience when it comes to  prompting people to make sustainability and health-related changes? Using behavioural science, you can move people from nodding to clicking to changing their habits.

Give People a Gentle Nudge, Not a Shove

Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein coined the concept of the “nudge” in their 2008 book titled Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. If you have two options, you’re likely to choose the easier one. 

The idea of the nudge theory is that you shape people’s environments (known in very jargony-y terms as “choice architecture”) so that they are more likely to choose the healthier or more sustainable option rather than just automatically go for the easier one. 

In health terms, that would be like putting fruit by the checkout rather than chocolate bars, which a lot of British supermarkets have been doing for years. On a side note, I noticed that Waitrose often put flowers and their own magazine by the checkout, which must be a reflection of the demographics of their shoppers (i.e. they’re posh and drive Range Rovers).

How can copywriters in the sustainability and healthcare industries use the nudge theory to guide behaviour? 

• Use social proof: say something like, “people in your neighbourhood have already switched to green energy”

• Explain the benefits rather than the features: this is a pretty common marketing concept, but a lot of companies still get it wrong. People want to know how their choices benefit them and/or the wider community.

• Make the healthier/more sustainable option the default one: this gets into the realms of UX, but you can make it the default option to use green energy to power your home. Or, you make that OCR eye scan test an opt-out rather than an opt-in (assuming it’s free and you’re not trying to deceive people into paying more money)

  
  

Use Your (Emotional) Intelligence

In the world of healthcare and sustainability, guilt is cheap and ineffective. We can’t shame people into making different choices (and nor should we, as we’re all human and not at all perfect). People need acknowledgment, small wins, and psychological safety.

I recently watched Daniel Goleman’s talk on YouTube about the 12 traits emotionally intelligent people share, and it got me thinking about how to apply that to content. How could I be an emotionally intelligent copywriter?  Here are three stages to go through when creating copy.

1. Recognize the reader’s emotional state (eco-anxiety, health shame, burnout

2. Respond with empathy, not shame

3. Guide them toward action with autonomy, not coercion (drawing on the nudge theory as well)

   
   

And here is how you do that: 

• Build trust via tone and transparency

• Create resonance via shared values

• Encourage action via clarity and competence

  
  

The Habit Hack That Also Makes Your Copy Work Harder

I’ve been trying to make/break some habits recently, so I’ve been looking around for a bit of inspiration on how I can do that. For example, why can I just not seem to manage to sit down for five minutes a day to do some creative writing? 

I stumbled across the Fogg Behavior Model, which states that you need motivation, ability, and a prompt to come together at the same time to make you take action.  And it applies to copy like a glove: 

• If motivation is low, the action must be absurdly easy

• If ability is high, you can ask for more

• But without a clear prompt, nothing moves 

Let’s have a look at this in action.

Motivation

Let’s say you want someone to book a health screening.

• “Your future self will thank you” = weak motivation.

• “Click here to reserve your free 10-minute screening, no paperwork” = clear, low-friction, prompted action.

  
  

Ability

You’re writing climate-related copy targeting eco-conscious tech-savvy consumers. They already compost, drive EVs, and read IPCC reports before breakfast. Their ability to act sustainably is high; they have knowledge, resources, and tools.

• "Switch to paperless billing to reduce your environmental footprint."

  • Weak ask (underestimating their ability). It’s low-ambition and doesn’t leverage their high ability. It’s like asking a marathon runner to jog to the mailbox.

• "Join 10,000 others offsetting their household emissions with our verified monthly carbon credit plan. Takes 2 minutes to set up."

  • Stronger ask (matching high ability). This assumes high cognitive, financial, and motivational bandwidth and presents a bigger impact action. The prompt is still clear and easy, but the ask respects their capability.

    
    

Prompt

In copy, prompts work best when tied to buttons, forms, pop-ups, or text that visually stands out. The brain responds to contrast, so make the action obvious.

The anatomy of a strong prompt is as follows:

• Action verb: “Tap,” “Join,” “Book,” “Get,” “Take”

• Specific outcome: not just “learn more,” but “get your personalized plan”

• Urgency or ease:  “in 2 minutes,” “today,” “free”

Here are some good examples in the healthcare and sustainability industry: 

• “Calculate your personal carbon footprint. It takes less than 60 seconds.”

  • This is a direct, time-bounded prompt. It tells the reader exactly what to do and when to do it.

• “Tap below to schedule your free 10-minute blood pressure check—no forms, no hassle.”

  • This works because it’s specific, frictionless, and triggers the behaviour right now (not someday).

    
    

The Ethics of Influence

I know people hate marketing, feeling like they are being sold to, and generally just tricked or deceived into buying something. I hate seeing the “limited time sale”, which just happens to still be going on three months later. In the UK, DFS is well known for always having a furniture sale even though they still claim things like, “starts on Monday”. 

Another current marketing trick I hate is the Instagram fad of “comment X on this post and I’ll send you my guide to getting rich”. Spoiler alert: they just want your details. 

These behavioural science tools can be weaponised, which is why you need to keep ethics in mind.

The key lies in transparency, informed consent, and positive intent.

• Don’t trick, guide

• Don’t coerce, collaborate

• Don’t manipulate, motivate

  
  

Write the Change You Want to See

Whether it’s encouraging someone to drink more water or ditch plastic packaging, your words have leverage. So wield them with precision.

Emotionally intelligent copy, grounded in behavioural insight, doesn’t just sell vitamins or carbon offsets, it creates real, meaningful, lasting change in a way that feels good to you and to your customers/users/readers.