Database of Behavioral Economics Interventions

Searchable database of 650+ case studies and interventions from business, public and non-profit sectors

List of 706 Database entries

Reminders that utilize goal-setting and incentives led to higher savings.

Clients in three different banks who had recently opened a goal-based savings account were randomly assigned to two conditions: some clients received reminder notices, which varied concerning timing and content, and some did not ...

Active choice increased enrollment in savings plan among military employees

US military employee participation in savings plans is relatively low at 44%.
 The White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST) in collaboration with the Department of Defense implemented an active choice requirement at ...

Reminders using loss aversion and social proof decreased academic progress violations.

Students are required to meet certain academic standards to qualify for financial aid.
 At The College at Brockport, 1300 students were randomly assigned to an experiment. At-risk students in the control group received the ...

Introduction of checklists reduced surgical complications.

Surgical complications are a considerable cause of death and disability around the world. However, they can often be preventable.
In the context of the World Health Organization’s Safe Surgery Saves Lives program, a ...

Personalized text messages increased college enrollment.

An academic study examined the summer “melt” phenomenon, which means that college-intending high school graduates fail to be accepted at any college in the year following high school. Two interventions got implemented.
One ...

A phone call campaign increased voting turnout in the U.S.

An academic study examined methods to increase voter turnout during elections by using phone calls that encourage citizens to vote.
The experiment was conducted during the U.S. 2008 presidential election showing that facilitating ...

Redesigning the application form and process for debt relief programs increased applications.

Loan borrowers who struggle with payments often fail to apply for debt-relief programs.
Great Lakes, a nonprofit student loan guarantor, redesigned the application form and process for debt-relief programs. They emphasized how feasible financial ...

Behaviorally-informed messages helped students make better decisions in the course selection process.

Student financial aid is reduced for those who select courses outside of their field of study.
Valencia College collaborated with ideas42 to design two warning messages that utilized salience (highlighted the courses that qualify ...

Social norm messages reduced water consumption.

Water is a scarce substance that people tend to overuse.
The Cobb County Water System (CCWS) randomized residents to conditions: the technical advice condition received a message about ways to reduce water use; the ...

Information on HIV decreased unsafe sexual behavior among eighth-graders.

Millions of people become infected with HIV/AIDS yearly in Africa.
Students in 71 schools in Western Kenya were randomly assigned to either an information condition (IC), where eighth-grade students were provided with statistics on ...

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