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…
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.
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We conducted a SMS program trial to inform our efforts to strengthen the home learning environment and support parents of 2 year-old children. Specifically, the trial aimed to: assess parent engagement with an SMS program, assess the impact of the program on positive parenting behaviours such as reading, playing and two way enriched conversation; and inform future efforts to improve positive parenting behaviours.
BI Project
Feel & act green: can compliments about sustainable behaviour lead to the next sustainable…
Rijkswaterstaat (the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management) wants to induce behavioural change in several areas. The circular economy is one example. A study examined whether consumers will make more sustainable choices if they have been complimented on their past actions or behaviour that were environmentally friendly or sustainable. This proved to be the case.
Why this experiment was conducted: additional incentive for sustainable behaviour
Behavioural change is…
BI Project
Full price information for consumers: What effect does the way prices are displayed have on online…
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) conducted an experiment to investigate the effect of incomplete prices when booking a holiday home. Websites that display incomplete prices cause greater uncertainty, make choosing more difficult, undermine trust and give the feeling of deception compared to websites displaying transparent prices.
Why this experiment was conducted: unclear picture of actual costs
In 2021, the ACM conducted a study into effective transparency. The aim was…
BI Project
Comparing the impact of positive, negative, and graded sustainability labels on purchase decisions
An online experiment with EU consumers was run to assess the relative effectiveness of three sustainability labelling approaches: (1) positive labels - only identifying products with the best sustainability performance, (2) negative labels - only identifying products with the worst sustainability performance, and (3) graded labels - conveying the relative sustainability of all products. Results suggest that graded labels are the most effective to steer consumer toward more sustainable purchase…
Small businesses were sent behaviorally-informed emails encouraging them to apply to the Growth Vouchers program.
A key part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ (BIS) remit is to provide support to small businesses in the United Kingdom. BIS has explored a number of initiatives to help these businesses grow.
One of these initiatives was ‘Growth Vouchers’ – a program of matched funding with a £30 million budget. Businesses could apply for funding to help subsidize the…
In the study, the effectiveness of four reminder messages was evaluated through an online laboratory experiment involving 2,963 participants. The content of these messages was designed based on evidence from behavioural sciences, and their effect was contrasted with that of a simple, brief, and direct message (control message). The impact of the reminders was measured through four outcome variables: the action participants declared they would take after receiving the message, understanding and…
The Charter of Rights and Responsibilities of Financial Consumers is an initiative designed to counteract consumers' optimism bias and the information asymmetry that typically favors banks over users.
To address these behavioral and structural challenges, the initiative employs smart disclosure techniques, including the use of visual prominence and icons to guide users' attention when interacting with the document.
This charter is mandated to be displayed physically at bank branches, digitally…
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.
This research shows that teacher and administration absences can negatively affect students’ reading and math abilities.Working with the Peruvian Ministry of Education (MINEDU) and the UK’s Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), we tested whether attendance could be influenced by sending different behaviorally informed messages by email. One email message conveyed the current level of attendance of one’s school district the “social norm” while the other built on teachers’ pro-social…