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

Using personalized pamphlets reduce factory accidents

The Chilean Safety Association wanted to increase safety in industries across the country. They sent a package of 20 pamphlets to copmanies with a cover letter specifying that the pamphlets should be distributed to ...

Increasing tax collection rates by changing the default web-link

The Behavioural Insights Team has run a series of trials that sought to improve tax collection rates by making it easier for individuals to pay. One of the simplest interventions involved testing the impact ...

Placing gold coin stickers on the floor reduced the waste by 20%

A garment factory in China had issues with workers dropping cloth scraps on the floor near their machines. A team of researchers tested placing gold coin stickers, a symbol of good fortune on the ...

How clock changes nudged people into testing their smoke alarms

The bi-annual time changes are a high point for the annual fire safety campaigns run by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). 
DCLG has been using the time changes to nudge people ...

Using three random words can strengthen passwords without making them less memorable

BIT designed an online experiment to test different ways to encourage users to create stronger, yet memorable, passwords.
They asked 785 people to take part in an online, paid activity, for which they were ...

A simple change in text message helped to collect 55% more money to support cancer patients

The Mindworx team collaborated with the NGO - the League Against Cancer - and a telco operator, O2 on Daffodil day with the aim of raising more money to support cancer patients and their ...

Evoking feelings of pride helped to incerase self control

The study tested the effect of priming on emotions and self-control. They presented participants with chocolate cake under one of three conditions: the “pride” group was told to imagine how proud they would feel ...

Using feedback to increase fuel efficiency

A study with Virgin Atlantic wanted to test the effectiveness of feedback on the level of pilots efficiency.
The results showed that giving pilots personalized feedback on their fuel usage significantly improved their fuel ...

Recycling made easier with bigger bins

When smaller (140 liters) bins for waste and larger (240 liters) recycling bins were introduced across 140,000 households in Edinburgh, recycling rates increased. An average household saw an 85% increase in the weight of ...

Letters to businesses increased registration of employees for social security

Together with the Mexican Ministry of Finance, the BIT conducted trial to encourage businesses to comply with their obligations to register their employees for social security.
In this trial, letters were sent to businesses ...

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