Behavioural Insights Projects

Are there ways to limit the accrual of excessive loan amounts by students? A letter sent to students with student loans who have received a supplementary grant increases the likelihood of them reducing their loan amounts. This increased likelihood translates to an annual average decrease of over € 150 in loan amounts for students receiving both a supplementary grant and a loan. Why this experiment was conducted: award of supplementary grant sometimes has little or no impact on loan…

Institution: Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science

Parents within the Child Support Program can apply for a Change of Assessment (CoA) when they experience a change in their circumstances that might affect their child support payments or entitlements. This is done by lodging an application with the Department of Human Services (DHS). The aim of the study is to examine whether providing timely and salient information about the receipt and process of a claim improves process transparency and saves client time and effort by reducing the need for…

Institution: Prime Minister and Cabinet (PMC)

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

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks. A large-scale field experiment amongst SME employees showed that a phishing test is effective in the short term, but not in the medium or long term. Why this experiment was conducted: SMEs are vulnerable to cyberattacks Phishing is one of the most common types of cybercrime and is frequently the precursor to additional cyber threats, including malware and ransomware attacks. SMEs are vulnerable, with many of them…

Institution: Netherlands Regional Platform of Crime Control North-Holland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy

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)

Claims associated with adhesion contracts continue to represent a relevant challenge for financial consumer protection, particularly in highly mass-market products such as savings accounts and personal loans. The available evidence suggests that these complaints are not driven solely by regulatory transparency issues, but rather by persistent gaps in comprehension and attention at the time of contracting. In this context, the Superintendency of Banks of the Dominican Republic (SBDR), through the…

Institution: Superintendency of Bank of the Dominican Republic

Team: SBLAB

The Ministry of Justice and Security developed a behavioural intervention aimed at inspiring individuals to adopt safe cyber practices: 'Valse email? Meld het via de meldknop' (Fake email? Report it using the report button). Thanks to this behavioural intervention, employees are ten times more likely to report suspicious emails internally. Moreover, click rates on links in suspicious emails have significantly decreased. Why this experiment was conducted: One in five SMEs have been victims of…

Institution: Netherlands Ministry of Justice and Security

We all know that if a 13-year-old has his mind set on something, it is quite difficult to try to change it. This is exactly the type of challenge that the Ministry of Education in Peru is approaching with students in public schools and high schools, targeting those from low-income households in particular. Teenagers often have pre-conceived ideas about their own intelligence, which influences how they react to academic challenges. If a student thinks he is not smart enough, he believes there is…

Institution: World Bank

Team: eMBeD, Mind Behaviour and Development team

The Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) seeks to remove barriers to apprenticeship enrolment, training, and program completion as part of their mandate to increase the skilled trades workforce in the province. Amongst other strategies, these efforts have led to an expansion of existing grant schemes that aim to offset some of the costs of training and encourage training completion. In collaboration with MLITSD, the Ontario Behavioural Insights Unit…

Institution: Ontario Public Service (OPS)

Team: Ontario Behavioural Insights Unit

PROJECT SUMMARY ideas42 and Busara Center for Behavioral Economics worked with a major bank and telecommunications company in Nigeria to send behaviorally-informed SMS messages to customers to increase their use of mobile bank accounts. IMPACT Effects varied by message and audience; notably, injunctive norm messages led to a 45 percent increase in the number of clients making deposits among females with active accounts, from 0.82% to 1.81%. RESULTS Design ideas42 and the Busara Center for…

Institution: Busara Center for Behavioral Economics

Team: Ideas42

Could we expect a higher vaccine uptake if vaccination appointments are no longer necessary? A campaign in neighbourhoods where vaccination rates were lagging sought to test whether emphasising convenience led to an increase in the number of administered vaccinations, by offering walk-in vaccination without an appointment. This indeed proved to be the case. Furthermore, getting a COVID-19 vaccine on a walk-in basis has become popular, along with the platform PrikkenZonderAfspraak. Why this…

Institution: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM)