Behavioural Insights Projects

A circular business model promotes reuse of products and materials. A case in point is a model where consumers return their jeans to the manufacturer after use. Which circular business model characteristics are consumers willing to accept right now, and what do they refuse? Acceptance of these models seems to increase if companies offer effective or appealing option combinations, such as monthly payment schedules and discounted returns. Why this experiment was conducted: to promote the circular…

Institution: Rijkswaterstaat (Netherlands Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management)

PROJECT SUMMARY Teachers in a summer school program for high school students provided brief, individualized, messages for parents with information about their child’s performance and behavior in school on a weekly basis. IMPACT Providing parents with individualized messages increased the probability a student earned credit for each class by 6.5 percentage points – a 41% reduction in failure rates.

Institution: Harvard Kennedy School

Team: Behavioural Insights Group

Electricity bills are a key way to inform people about their plan and usage, but bills can be confusing and are not really useful to help people navigate the electricity market. BETA and the Department of the Environment and Energy ran a trial to test the impact of bill design on people’s confidence in their ability to look for a better offer and intention to do so. We drew on behavioural insights to design and test six electricity bills. We focussed on simplifying bill design to draw…

Institution: Prime Minister and Cabinet (PMC)

Team: Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA)

PROJECT SUMMARY Students were sent two redesigned emails during the course selection process: a pre-registration email that laid out instructions and procedures for registration, and a post-registration email that notified students if any of their upcoming courses did not fit financial aid requirements. IMPACT The average aid award for students receiving both redesigned emails rose by $150.28 per student for the Spring semester compared with students who received neither email, with a total…

Institution: Ideas42

Team: Ideas42

Chilean mortgage loan market is characterized by debtors' limited understanding of financial information an low level of loans' renegotiation. As a result, there is a high risk that consumers are missing benefits from economic opportunities. That's why Chilean financial institutions must, by law, send to their customers every three months, a Mortgage Statement designed by the regulator. This policy paper is an executive summary of a study that shows qualitative and quantitative evidence about…

Institution: Servicio Nacional del Consumidor (SERNAC)

Team: Servicio Nacional del Consumidor (SERNAC)

Canada Carbon Rebate (CCR; formerly known as Climate Action Incentive Payment) is a tax-free, quarterly payment paid to Canadians by the federal government in eligible provinces to offset the costs of federal pollution pricing. According to recent results from the Program of Applied Research on Climate Action (PARCA), eligible Canadians have low awareness of CCR and think that carbon price costs them more than they receive in CCR payment. In fact, support for carbon pricing has been declining…

Institution: Impact and Innovation Hub (IIU)- Impact Canada

Team: Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU)

To gain insight into citizen perspectives on the themes of energy and climate, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate periodically conducts public research. The Public Monitor Climate and Energy 2021 focuses on knowledge, attitude and behaviour of citizens in the field of the climate and energy transition.

Institution: Ministry of Economic Affairs (MinEZ)

Team: Behavioural Insights Network (BIN NL)

The Ontario Public Service (OPS) is committed to promoting employment equity. Collecting sociodemographic data from employees will help the OPS better understand how different demographic groups are represented in the workforce and progress through their careers. However, recent initiatives to promote the voluntary submission of sociodemographic data through the OPS Human Resources portal (known as WIN) has had lower uptake than desired, reducing the quality of this data for decision-making…

Institution: Ontario Public Service (OPS)

Team: Ontario Behavioural Insights Unit

Are people more likely to file their tax returns correctly if they receive a thank-you in advance or afterwards? Analyses show that thank-you messages have no effect on compliance behaviour. Why this experiment was conducted: positive alternative sought To encourage citizens' tax compliance (i.e., paying their taxes on time and correctly), it is occasional practice to emphasise the risk of checks and fines in case of non-compliance. One drawback of this deterrent method is that it can damage…

Institution: Dutch Tax and Customs Administration

The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and other social and global political crises and incidents have increased the need to understand the mental resilience, preparedness, agency and sense of community of Finns in various crises and disruptions. This memorandum presents information related to these topics collected via the Citizens’ Pulse survey and citizen interviews commissioned by the Prime Minister’s Office in March and April 2022.

Institution: Prime Minister's Office - Finland

Team: Finnish Behavioural Policy Unit