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
Achieving weight loss by using loss aversion
Research was designed by Volpp et al. (2008) where 3 different groups were given different strategies to help with weight loss.
A weight-monitoring programme was proposed for groups 1 (the control group), 2, and ...
Making a public commitment helps reduce thefts
In 1972, an experiment was set up by Thomas Moriarty (1975) where 56 people were involved in witnessing a portable radio being stolen. The study involved a confederate victim and a confederate thief. The ...
Doctors in the UK used public commitment to reduce patients missing appointments.
In the UK in 2012, doctors ran a field experiment where they wanted to reduce the amount of missed appointments, or ‘do not attends’ (DNAs).
Patients were made to repeat the date of ...
Research shows public commitment can reduce energy use of the public.
A field experiment was undertaken by Pallak and Cummings (1976), testing if public commitment would motivate people to reduce energy consumption.
Participants were split into 2 groups. Each was given advice on how to ...
Increasing fuel-efficient flying behavior among pilots by telling them they are being monitored
Researchers wanted to increase fuel-efficient flying behavior among pilots. The experimental group was informed that their flight and fuel behavior would be monitored for a period of 8 months. The control group was told ...
SMS prompts increased the number of claimants attending job fair
BIT in collaboration with Jobcentre tested the effectiveness of SMS when encouraging claimants to attend job fairs. The SMS prompts were very simple and worked by informing people when job opportunities arise.
They tested ...
Improving resilience and engagement of social workers with a training program
BIT designed a course aimed at addressing mindsets, resilience skills, stress reduction, engagement and a sense of community.
They used a Train-the-Trainer model, teaching social workers how to run the course for Foster Carers, ...
Communicating benefits of university lifestyle increased students likelihood of attending university
The BIT was asked to work with schools in order to test new ways of increasing student performance and outcomes.
The trials cover a diverse range of areas; from increasing the aspiration of pupils ...
Email prompts increased the number of people taking up appointment with a retirement adviser
The BIT worked on a project aimed to increase the number of households with retirement account assets in the USA.
They found that a simple email prompt increased the number of city staff ...
Visual sliders helped people to make better financial decisions
In a study by the BIT, they found that sliders on the website can help people make better financial decisions. They added a slider in a credit card debt repayment exercise.
The sliders explicitly ...