Behavioural Insights Projects

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, guests were required to wear face masks on entering and while moving inside hospitality venues. To promote this behaviour, self-persuasion and salience techniques were used in this experiment - with notable success. Following the announced relaxation of face mask requirements, there was a decrease in face mask usage, although this was significantly less in hospitality venues that saw interventions than in venues that did not experience interventions. Why this…

Methods Two preregistered randomized controlled trials (N = 253 and N = 674) measured consumption in a lab and the home environment. Cues were salient, labeled stripes that demarcated single portions. Participants were randomized to cue condition or control. Consumption was measured without awareness. Results The main preregistered effect of the visual cue was not statistically significant. There was some variation by subgroup. In Study 1, men were more likely to eat the whole can of potato…

Institution: Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)

Team: ESRI Behavioural Research Unit

Cambridgeshire Constabulary has noted that 1,650 hate incidents were reported within Cambridgeshire between 1st December 2019 and 28th February 2021 and the vast majority of reported incidents (1,344) were racially-based. The data indicates that since the pandemic (March 2020), incidents of Hate crime have increased for people with the following protected characteristics: disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, race, religion. These groups are already disproportionately adversely impacted by COVID-19…

Institution: Local Government Association

Team: Local Government Association

Smart energy services and demand flexibility are increasingly important topics. Levels of awareness in an Irish context are uncertain, but engagement is low. We test different ways of framing information on engagement and intention to be flexible. We record flexibility preferences by activity and flexibility mechanisms.

Institution: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)

Team: SEAI Behavioural Economics Unit

To promote college access and affordability, education tax credits help with the cost of college by reducing the amount of tax owed. The most generous Federal higher education tax credit, the American opportunity tax credit (AOTC), is a maximum annual credit of $2,500 per eligible student. Yet, many eligible students (or their families) do not claim the credit. Among eligible students, national estimates indicate that 46 percent of independent students and 56 percent of dependent students take…

Institution: General Services Administration (GSA)

Team: Office of Evaluation Sciences (OES)

PROJECT SUMMARY Arizona State University freshmen students eligible for the Student Engagement and Employment Development Plan (SEED), a work-study program, received emails designed to emphasize the benefits of joining the program and eliminate hassles in the application process. IMPACT The redesigned emails increased the number of students applying for SEED jobs by 3 percentage points, from 9% to 12% of students. Source: B-Hub

Institution: Ideas42

Team: Ideas42

'Returning to employment? Don't forget about your benefits!' When individuals receiving benefits return to employment having been registered as unemployed, it is important that they report the change in their income to the Benefits Unit on time, to avoid repayment demands. Why do individuals not comply with this notification requirement? And what interventions could improve compliance? A revised letter from the UWV Employee Insurance Agency and an additional page on the Benefits Unit website…

Institution: Netherlands Employee Insurance Agency (UWV)

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

62% of times when an electronic device is broken their owner throw it away without thinking about repairing it, often encouraged by the industry. Consumers also think the information about "repairability" is hardly available at time of purchase. DITP created an indicator understandable and usable by consumers. Different types of labels were created to be tested in the field. Their clarity and impact on consumer's purchase decision were scientifically evaluated.

Institution: Direction Interministérielle de la Transformation Publique (DITP)

Team: Equipe Sciences Comportementales

emand within the Child Protection system has grown significantly over the last decade. The education sector is a particularly important stakeholder. Teachers and other school staff interact with children regularly and are often the first to notice if a child is at risk or needs support. This project sought to better understand the decision making process of professionals from the education sector, Child Protection Intake and Child FIRST lead agencies for identification of whether a child is…

Institution: Victoria State Government

Team: Behavioural insights Unit (VicGov BIU)