Behavioral Public Policy and Economics GmbH
Are you interested to know how behavioral insights can be used to encourage pro-environmental behavior? Inspired by two workshops given by our Dr. Julia Stauf, a new article by Thüringer Agentur für die Kreativwirtschaft (THAK) shares tips on how to apply nudges efficiently and gives some creative examples of how green nudging can help us act more sustainably.
The facts we take to be true build and shape our perception of reality. The importance of factuality for society comes into play especially during crises and conflict resolution. When we have fundamentally different perceptions, we can’t agree on a solution and as a result, the stability and cohesion that society requires to power through crises is compromised. That is why fake news can have devastating effects on societies.
Can cultural participation make us more resilient during times of crises? In a recent study, Annie Tubadji (2021) tries to shed light on this question. Using data from an online survey conducted in the first year of the pandemic in several countries, she examines the relationship between culture, happiness and pro-sociality.
Can prompting self-reflection help young job seekers find a job faster? If so, how much impact can we expect from such interventions?
Have you ever wondered how exposure to fake news could affect your behavior? It might be deeper than you think.
What is the most effective policy instrument to encourage long-term use of public transport? To answer this question, Gravert and Collentine (2021) collaborated with a local transport agency in Southern Sweden on a large-scale field experiment.
We are delighted to announce that the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers has tasked Behavia, as part of a consortium led by Milieu, to investigate how policy interventions can play a positive role in extending the life and use of durable products and prevent premature disposal.
Social norms are the unwritten rules of societies. As social creatures, we have learned to internalize these rules to reduce uncertainty in social interactions, avoid sanctioning, and increase our sense of belonging and identity. Therefore, information that emphasizes a social norm can potentially alter individual behavior, for better or for worse.
Unexpected events like the Covid-19 pandemic or crises in the banking sectors regularly drive investors into panic selling. The typical “buy-high, sell-low” pattern emerging from panic selling does not only harm private investors’ financial health but also increases the chances of market crashes. Finding effective means to combat panic selling is therefore of vital importance to regulators, financial institutions, and other market actors.
A newly published article by de Ridder et al. (2021) investigates what makes people ‘nudgeable’, i.e. receptive to nudge interventions. They argue that nudgeability depends on the strength of preexisting preferences.