Behavioural Insights Projects
Discover projects applying behavioural science to policy from around the world. Add your own projects, whether completed or still ongoing, to contribute knowledge on BI applications across different countries, policy areas, and topics of interest.

Number of BI projects:
0
Legend: Projects status
- Pre-registered project
- Completed project
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BI Project
The 'Fit op jouw manier' (Fit your way) campaign aims to encourage overweight individuals to get after. The campaign successfully reaches the target audience, motivating them with tips that they then practice. For example, more people now regularly take the stairs instead of the life or escalator.
Why this experiment was conducted: combating overweight and obesity
The Prevention Agreement aims to reduce the proportion of overweight adults from 50% in 2018 to 38% by 2040. A healthy lifestyle…
Challenge
Many people in developing nations have limited access to formal savings mechanisms, impeding their ability to save money and invest in agricultural inputs like tools and fertilizer that might help improve their crops. Among the many structural reasons for low savings rates (inaccessible banks, high transaction costs, distrust of financial institutions, lack of financial literacy), psychological barriers such as impatience or lack of self-control may also play a role. Additionally,…
In partnership with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU) has launched a multi-year program of research on climate change. The Program of Applied Research on Climate Action in Canada (PARCA Canada) combines behavioural science (BeSci) insights and methods with robust policy analysis to promote climate action. One of the main areas of focus involves the launch of a longitudinal survey that will, over time, collect…
As of 2007, the UK Ministry of Justice was imposing over £350 million in new court fines annually, only half of which were collected within six months. In 2011, the Ministry faced over £600 million in outstanding unpaid fines.
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), which administers the collection of fines, incurs significant costs from non-compliant debtors. In addition to resources for case-management and follow-up phone calls, bailiffs are assigned to recover the debt…
BI Project
Behavioral Interventions in Local Government: Increasing the Efficiency of Local Public Policies
The project had three aims. The first aim was to create a comprehensive catalogue of systematic, financially manageable behavioural interventions (including nudges and other interventions), as well as improvements to current processes and instruments of public administration at the local level in Slovakia. The second aim was to create a manual for the general application of behavioural knowledge to public administration practices, which includes a handbook for systematic and expert application…
BETA partnered with AFSA on two projects to determine how to best communicate about the consequences of bankruptcy.
In the first project, over 6,500 Australians completed one of six educational tools online that explain the consequences of bankruptcy and then assessed their levels of understanding. A pop-quiz and video were most effective, improving people’s understanding by 27 percentage points above the group that saw no educational tool.
In the second project, we introduced five additional…
In a seven-week school-based field experiment using preadolescents’ physical activity as a proxy for estimating behavioural change, we test the hypothesis that boys’ and girls’ distinct networks are susceptible to different social incentives.
BI Project
Text messaging to spur vaccination take-up: which type of communication is most effective?
In early 2022, various kinds of text messages were sent to over 100,000 residents of Brabant-Zuidoost who had not yet received a booster jab from the GGD. The results show that the most effective variant − in the 6 days after receiving the text message − led to a 3.2% increase in the number of vaccinations administered. This was the text message saying 'Jouw boosterprik ligt voor je klaar' (You can now book your booster vaccination) plus a randomly allocated date, time and location.
Why…
BI Project
Using protection motivation theory in the design of nudges to improve online security behavior
Online experiment to explore the effect of notifications on security behaviour. Both increased secure behavior – but the coping message significantly more so. The coping message was also as effective as both messages combined, but not so the threat appeal. Risk attitudes, age and country had a significant effect on behavior.
The Government of Canada wants to support the transition from home heating based on fossil fuels (e.g., natural gas) to electric heat pumps. Here, we wanted to test different ways of framing the advantages of heat pumps and assess the benefit of providing a step-by-step guide to getting a heat pump.