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
Training session for small businesses improved financial decision-making
A randomized controlled trial in the Dominican Republic tested two different training sessions for small businesses to improve financial decision-making: standard accounting training and rule-of-thumb training that taught basic financial heuristics such as using ...
A small gift motivated employees of a bank to donate to charity
Research has shown that when somebody does something for us we feel an urge to repay this favour. As an alternative to using standard economic incentives such as fines, introducing a small gift or ...
The possibility of losing money motivated teachers to improve the results of their students
Researchers have examined the impact of a bonus related to students' test performance offered to teachers.
When teachers were offered a potential bonus in advance and told they would have to give it back if their students ...
Message prompts increased payment rates three times
The power of a timely prompt has been shown in a number of contexts. A BIT trial demonstrated that sending text message prompts 10 days before the bailiff's due date encouraged people to pay their court ...
Providing a link in debt letters increased the collection of debt
A trial run by BIT and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) found that providing a link in debt letters that took individuals directly to the relevant form rather than to the general website ...
Messages highlighting that others pay their taxes on time increased tax compliance
In contexts such as tax compliance, it has been shown that people hold erroneous views on what the majority of other people are doing, and correcting these can lead to higher levels of compliance ...
Framing possible savings as a possible loss made 150% more people to insulate their home
The study was conducted on homeowners, who were provided with a free energy audit. Half of the homeowners were told:
“If you will insulate your home fully, you’ll be able to save 50 cents
...
Easy to read script decreased perceived difficulty of an exercise
In a study from the University of Michigan, two groups were provided with a text focused on an exercise routine. The first group was given a difficult-to-read brush script, the second group was given ...
Delayed prescription reduced using antibiotics
Delayed prescriptions involve prescribing antibiotics, but advising people not to use them unless symptoms worsen, or alternatively asking them to collect a prescription at a later date if they don’t get any better.
A ...
Redesign of prescription charts reduced medication errors
The prescription charts used by clinicians to make prescriptions often contained errors. Some of these errors were a result of the way that the forms were designed.
The forms were redesigned in order to ...