Some apps or websites are beautiful, stylish, and well thought out in terms of UX, but have one problem: they are boring. These products can trigger both desire and resistance in the user at the same time. Here are a few tricks that will help solve this problem not from a rational, but from an emotional side.
Nudging and manipulation in modern society, driven by advancements in technology and behavioral sciences, are pervasive. However, there are ways for individuals to resist and develop immunity to these persuasion tactics. By being forewarned, recognizing manipulation attempts, and undergoing debiasing interventions, individuals can better protect themselves. Additionally, they can avoid vulnerable moments, utilize avoidant resistance, and listen to their intuition. While escaping all influences is impossible, individuals can still choose their influencers and free their minds from undue manipulation.
When it comes to nudging, it’s very much a case of ‘different strokes for different folks'. A free donut might entice some people to take a vaccine; for others, it might make them even more skeptical. Fortunately, a combination of digital footprints and ‘thin slicing’ psychology means that nudges can now be targeted to the right people in the right way.
In behavioural science, context is everything. Behavioural Science Aotearoa (BSA) works across the justice sector in New Zealand, where indigenous Māori people make up almost 17% of the population. We combined behavioural science with Māori cultural principles to encourage people to clear their Warrants to Arrest by voluntarily appearing at court. Working with New Zealand Police, we designed and tested a phone-based initiative and found promising evidence for its success.
The research literature on nudge effectiveness is growing. 2022 started with a new PNAS article reporting a meta analysis of 455 effect sizes from 214 publications. Here's a short summary.
Many people struggle to finish big projects. According to a 2020 survey, almost half of teleworkers had trouble getting motivated. Behavioral science can help! Here are some tips for accomplishing those daunting tasks.
A typical behavioral pattern of investors is to reduce stock market exposure after a crash. We suggest a simple nudge based on the IKEA effect and the endowment effect that reduces this problem substantially: In case of a market crash, stockholders who have chosen their own portfolios are more likely to stick with their investment choices.
Do budgeting apps always improve consumers' financial decisions? Contrary to common beliefs, the use of budget apps can increase spending, especially at the end of the budget period. The authors of this article propose five interventions to mitigate the acceleration of spending and help FinTech apps better serve consumers' financial needs.
Applied behavioural science is facing some tough challenges, in the form of an ongoing replication crisis and a public debate on limits to nudging (including COVID-related stumbles). At the same time, we believe there is reason to be optimistic: the fusing of behavioural knowledge with data science methods means that we can see some of these shared challenges in a completely new light. In this article, we show how a transformation of our interactions with consumers and employees can usher in a new age for the field.
Mutual funds cannot consistently return better-than-average performance. Yet investors often pick their mutual funds based on past performance. Researchers Leonardo Weiss-Cohen, Philip Newall and Peter Ayton conducted a long-term Think Forward Initiative research project that sought to answer how their investment decisions could be improved.
