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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Oxera and the Centre for Experimental Social Sciences (CESS) conducted a behavioural experiment on behalf of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to identify the effectiveness of certain summary cost metrics in aiding consumer selection of income drawdown products
Contact-tracing mobile phone apps have the potential to play a role in controlling
the spread of COVID-19, but their success hinges on widespread uptake by the public. We
report a study that behaviourally pre-tested COVID Tracker, Ireland’s contact-tracing app,
prior to its launch with a large sample of smartphone users. The study was funded by the
Department of Health and run in co-operation with the app’s developers, NearForm.
Participants were randomised to receive different versions of a…
Landfills are a major contributor to methane emissions in the United States. By diverting organic waste from landfills, composting may reduce the global warming effects caused by methane. However, only a small proportion of compostable food is currently composted. This is because of barriers to composting that are both structural (lack of public composting infrastructure) and psychological (insufficient knowledge about and interest in composting among prospective users).
We set out to develop a…
The Health Quality & Safety Commission (‘the
Commission’) uses data from the National Adult
Inpatient Experience Survey to understand patient
experience and evaluate quality of patient care in
hospitals. Two questions (See Appendix 1A) pertaining to
patients’ understanding of medication side-effects and
condition management have consistently received low
scores on the survey every quarter. Ogilvy conducted
Phase 1 of ‘Raising the Bar’ research for the Commission,
investigating these…
Despite email alert systems having a large reach, email can be a difficult platform to spread awareness. BETA partnered with the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) to find ways of boosting the impact of an email alert system. We applied behavioural insights to the email design to bolster its effects, and tested these different design aspects using a randomised controlled trial. Subscribers were randomly assigned to receive an alert with one or more of our new design features (or a…
Countries across the globe suffer from high rates
of youth unemployment and inactivity. The Maldives
are not immune. Despite efforts by the government
to increase employment opportunities among
young Maldivians, including the establishment
of employment quotas for nationals, results have
been underwhelming. Young people face barriers
such as social and gender norms around women’s
role in society, absence of role models to look up
to, and few jobs perceived as “suitable” for…
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…
BI Project
Designing Behaviorally Informed Health Interventions: Adherence to Micronutrient Treatment in El…
This study tested a behavioral intervention aiming to help reduce the prevalence of anemia in children in El Salvador. It first describes a traditional micronutrient distribution program for rural households. The analysis shows that although implementation was relatively successful, and take-up high, adherence to the full treatment of micronutrients was much lower. To explain this gap, the analysis employs a design methodology based on the “caregiver journey.” This methodology is a…
BI Project
More conscious student borrowing behaviour: How can excessive loan amounts be avoided after the…
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…
Testing Labelling Dimensions for Chemicals in Products