External Cues

What are External Cues?

External cues, or environmental cues, are features of the environment that provide information or prompt a response. A sound, sign, object or location can serve as a cue, depending on what it means to the person and the situation.

Examples of external cues

• A note beside the door can remind you to take something with you.
• An alarm can signal that it is time for an appointment.
• A particular location can become associated with an activity.

These examples show different forms of cue: visual, auditory and contextual.

Smells can also serve as cues. But identifying a smell as a cue is different from establishing that it causes a purchase. The same distinction applies to claims about colors, music and other sensory features.

How cues are used in behavior change

The Behavior Change Technique Taxonomy defines prompts and cues as stimuli introduced to prompt or remind a behavior at the relevant time or place. They can work through conscious attention; there is no requirement that a cue operate outside awareness.

Internal and external cues

External cues come from the environment. Internal cues come from within the person, such as a felt need or a thought. Describing an external stimulus as a cue emphasizes its role in signaling or prompting something; it does not mean that every stimulus produces the same behavior.

Why it matters

A reminder beside the door arrives at a useful moment. Whether it works still depends on noticing it, understanding it and being able and willing to act. Good cue design starts with those questions, rather than assuming a particular color, sound or smell will produce the same response in everyone.

When cues are used to influence other people, their purpose also deserves scrutiny. A prompt can help someone carry out an intention, but influence used for commercial or political purposes still calls for an ethical judgment.