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
This website, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
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…
This project leverages an online survey experiment among federal employees involved in the process of translating information and evidence about a program into actionable policies and programs. The experiment’s primary aim is to test ways of presenting information to improve sensitivity to impact-relevant information about a program. The impact-relevant features tested are: the number of people impacted, the intermediate or final outcomes and the persistence of effects. In addition, the…
BI Project
Give Your Car (and Wallet) a Break: Enabling more Sustainable Commutes in Pristina, Kosovo
Air pollution is a serious health and environmental problem in many cities, including Pristina, Kosovo, where poor air quality is a frequent issue. Private cars and taxis are a major mode of transportation in Pristina, contributing significantly to both pollution and congestion, which is most problematic at peak traffic hours when individuals commute to and from work. To tackle this issue, ideas42 partnered with the UNDP Kosovo to design a behavioral intervention with the unifying slogan, "Give…
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…
PROJECT SUMMARY
Text messages were delivered to parents of children from 3 to 5 years old enrolled in public preschools in Uruguay using a government mobile app. These messages targeted malleable factors producing students’ absences and sought to influence parent’s attitudes and beliefs about preschool attendance to increase children’s presence in the classroom.
IMPACT
Children in remote areas increased attendance by 1.5 days, suggesting an increase in cognitive development of 0.20 SD.…
Challenge
At West Kentucky Community & Technical College (WKCTC), many students were failing or withdrawing from courses, but few used the free tutoring services available on campus. Additionally, faculty had the potential to play a large role in helping facilitate student engagement in tutoring services through referrals, but they weren’t involved enough to have an impact.
Design
To better connect students to campus tutoring services, a series of nine behaviorally designed emails were sent to…
BI Project
Helping people get more out of language: How can you help individuals with limited literacy skills…
The 'Doe meer met taal' (Get more out of language) campaign was launched to reach out to individuals with limited literacy skills whose mother tongue is Dutch. At its conclusion, people in the target group said they felt more motivated to improve their language skills. They are also more inclined to take proactive steps, for example by engaging in language-related activities at home. 66,000 people visited the campaign website.
Why this experiment was conducted: everyone should be equipped with…
In collaboration with USAID and The Colombian Ministry of Justice, the project aims to design a Communication Strategy for Social and Behavioral Change to transform public perceptions of the justice system. This approach will integrate principles of behavioral science and strategic communication to:
Identify key barriers and beliefs that limit trust or appreciation of the justice system.
Segment target audiences, mapping sociodemographic and behavioral profiles to design relevant and effective…
BETA Survey Series: Towards Net Zero – BETA will conduct a survey series to fill current information gaps and better understand barriers and enablers to making high impact household decisions that limit greenhouse gas emissions.
BI Project
Generating more enthusiasm for teacher training programmes: How to get students more interested in…
In this experiment, various emails were sent to students in senior general secondary education (HAVO) and preuniversity education (VWO) to inform them about open days of teacher training programmes. The subject line that most caught their attention was ‘Are you looking for job security, challenge and a wide range of career opportunities?’ as well as a subject line in which a role model was introduced. Where emails mention teachers' starting salaries, students most often click links to more…