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on Nudge and Boosting |
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Issue of 2024‒10‒21
two papers chosen by Marco Novarese, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale |
| By: | Silvio Sticher; Hannes Wallimann; Noah Balthasar |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of a gamified experiment designed to promote sustainable mobility among students and staff members of a Swiss higher-education institution. Despite transportation being a major contributor to domestic CO2 emissions, achieving behavioral change remains challenging. In our two-month mobility competition, structured as a randomized controlled trial with a 3x3 factorial design, neither monetary incentives nor norm-based nudging significantly influences mobility behavior. Our (null) results suggest that there is no "gamified quick fix" for making mobility substantially more sustainable. Also, we provide some lessons learned on how not to incentivize sustainable mobility by addressing potential shortcomings of our mobility competition. |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2409.11142 |
| By: | Ekström, Mathias (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Sjåstad, Hallgeir (Dept. of Strategy and Management, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Bjorvatn, Kjetil (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration) |
| Abstract: | To mitigate global warming, collective behavior change is needed. But which tools should policymakers prioritize: economic incentives, nudges, or a combination? Current evidence from social science provides little direct advice, as it either lacks credible identification of causality or objective long-term behavioral data. Addressing both limitations, we present causal evidence from a two-year field experiment, comparing how a small price incentive and a social norm-nudge affect the recycling behavior of more than 2, 000 households. The results show a large, immediate, and persistent positive effect of incentives on both the quantity and quality of recycling, but no effect of the norm-nudge. However, the price incentive reduced customer satisfaction, unless it was combined with the norm-nudge, suggesting that appealing to norms can make climate incentives more acceptable. |
| Keywords: | economic incentives; nudges; behavior change; norm-nudge |
| JEL: | J01 J12 |
| Date: | 2024–09–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2024_015 |