To support federal response efforts, Impact Canada is leading the implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Behavioural Insights (BI) Tool on COVID-19 in the Canadian context. This work is being led in collaboration with the Public Opinion Research Team within the Privy Council Office’s (PCO) Communications and Consultation Secretariat, which supports the Prime Minister’s Office in coordinating government communications in accordance with key priorities.
Insights garnered will…
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
Effective position of call-to-action: Is the response rate higher if the call-to-action appears the…
How can response rates to questionnaires be increased? In the first quarter of 2023, some of the participants in a CBS survey received a letter in which the call-to-action appeared as far as possible at the top of the letter. The other participants received standard letters. The analyses showed that the standard letters produced a significantly higher response rate than the letters in which the call-to-action was placed at the top.
Why this experiment was conducted: high response rate is…
Behavioural science in the context of climate change at its related health risks has mainly focused on understanding and changing individual behaviours. However, effectively addressing the climate crisis requires broadening the focus on systemic societal change. This level of change is required to mitigate the negative effects of climate change as well as help people adapt to the associated (health) risks. Fostering systemic societal change requires situation-specific, large-scale data that can…
The project aims to increase the number of beneficiaries who “assign a Ticket” with an
Employment Network (EN) or VR agency. The assignment of a Ticket constitutes an agreement between the beneficiary and a service provider of their choice for employment support services.
An intermediate goal of the project is an increase in initial calls to the TTW Help Line.
Improving prevention in the area of mental health, destigmatizing the topic, improving awareness of the possibilities of help for different types of mental health problems, gradually breaking down the barriers that stand in the way of seeking professional help.
Problem: students do not know how to deal with mental discomfort and the onset of mental health problems, including those caused by pandemics.
BETA is working with the Department of Social Services to evaluate the effectiveness of various behaviourally informed approaches on increasing workplace giving.
Water scarcity remains common in Brazil, especially in the Recife Metropolitan Region (RMR) in the State of Pernambuco. The RMR is subject to particularly high levels of non-revenue water—which occur when high volumes of water produced do not generate revenue for the supplier. While some losses may be due to structural and operational inefficiencies such as leaky pipes, clients also play a key role by defaulting on their water payments or installing bypasses to consume water free of charge.…
Challenge
Students in low-income districts are less likely to sign up to take the Gifted and Talented (G&T) admissions test than their peers in higher-income districts. As a result, fewer students from low-income districts test into and attend G&T programs that could improve educational outcomes and provide meaningful opportunities. To the extent that the city may use sign-up rates as an indicator of demand, and thus where additional G&T programs should be located, low sign-up rates can mean…
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 data on research questions of interest to the promotion of climate action in Canada (e.g. transportation, home energy use, waste management, engagement with nature, preparedness for extreme weather,…
BI Project
Can Visual Cues to Portion Size Reduce the Number of Portions of Consumed? Two Randomized Controlled…
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…