Habit formation following routine-based versus time-based cue planning: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Objectives: Habit formation has been identified as one of the key determinants of behaviour change. To initiate habit formation, self-regulation interventions can support individuals to form a cue-behaviour plan and to repeatedly enact the plan in the same context. This randomized controlled trial aimed to model habit formation of an everyday nutrition behaviour and examined whether habit formation and plan enactment differ when individuals plan to enact their behaviour in response to a routine-based versus time-based cue. Design: Following a baseline assessment, N = 192 adults (aged 18–77 years) were randomly assigned to a routine-based cue or a time-based cue planning intervention, in whic..