Peace building in Nigeria and behavioural insights BIT 2023-01-19 | As part of the UK government's Smart Peace initiative, in Nigeria BIT applied behavioural insights to support peacebuilding in the ongoing conflict between Boko Haram and the Nigerian authorities. The project looked at how an existing mass media format, radio, can be used to help change entrenched attitudes and behaviours.
Make it EAST: four ways to apply behavioural science to public policy and business BIT 2025-03-06 | First introduced in 2014, the EAST framework—distilling behavioural science into four intuitive principles: Easy, Attractive, Social, and Timely—has been revised and updated to incorporate a decade of new insights, case studies and lessons learned from around the world.Led by BIT’s Chief Behavioural Scientist, Dr Michael Hallsworth, and hosted by BIT US Director, Emily Cardon, this session will bring the EAST principles to life by showing the results they’ve achieved in public policy, business and beyond.
From Nudge to…where now? BIT 2023-03-24 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-2x8sc-13c5d35Behavioural science has made a major impact on important issues over the past decade, such as antimicrobial resistance, educational attainment, and sustainability. But it’s also clear that applied behavioural science needs to evolve to fulfil its true potential.BIT has just published A Manifesto for Applying Behavioral Science - a landmark guide to the future of applied behavioral science. This Manifesto takes a clear-eyed look at challenges facing the field and offers 10 proposals to address them:Use behavioral science as a lens that can help us see all issues better, rather than as a tool for limited challenges.Build behavioral science into the design of organizations’ standard processes, to give it scale and sustainability.Step back, understand the system, and use behavioral science to make targeted changes that lead to wider results.Improve randomized controlled trials to better deal with the complexity of the real world.Approaches successful in one context can fail in another – find out why, and how we can adapt them better. Don’t just think about biases in behavior – aim for practical theories that offer reliable ways of solving real-world problems.Predict what people will do, confront when you were wrong, and change your views accordingly. Be humble about what you know, more curious about why people do things, and help others use behavioral science to improve their own lives. Use data science to identify, understand and reduce inequities.Be realistic – recognize that behavioral scientists always bring their own values to whatever they do, and help the field to broaden its range of perspectives.In this episode of Inside The Nudge Unit the Manifesto's author and Managing Director of BIT in the Americas, Michael Hallsworth, takes to the streets of New York City to explain more about what point 3, the importance of 'understanding the system' means in the context of behavioural science.The journey will take him from Times Square to Governors Island, discussing oysters, pedestrian crossings, plastic bags and much more.The full Manifesto for Applying Behavioural Science is available now for free on our website at www.bi.team.This episode was recorded in and around New York City by Sabeena Singhani. Our thanks to Pete Malinowski of the Billion Oyster Project and Rebecca Taylor of the University of Sydney for kindly agreeing to be interviewed.Inside The Nudge Unit is a production of the Behavioural Insights Team.Editing and sound design is by Andy Hetherington of Studio Gibbon: facebook.com/thestudiogibbon Producer is Rich O’Brienopen.spotify.com/playlist/1m3zn3SHmMh3vuR13hkLCP?si=88ed700f455c4dc4
A Manifesto for Applying Behavioral Science BIT 2023-03-21 | A rapid-fire overview of 10 proposals in 10 minutes from BIT's landmark guide for the future of applied behavioural science by its author Dr Michael Hallsworth.Help advance the #FutureOfBeSci: https://www.bi.team/publications/a-manifesto-for-applying-behavioral-science/
Is sustainability important to you? We asked the public in the lead up to our new report. BIT 2023-03-20 | 🌍Is sustainability important to you? We asked Londoners this question leading up to the launch of our new report on building a Net Zero society. Addressing the climate crisis will require behaviour changes from carbon-producing industries and common citizens alike 🏭Our research found that MOST people in the UK are willing to make changes in their lifestyles to protect the planet, and they would be more than happy to see policies passed that push industry leaders to do the same. We hit the streets to see how true this sentiment was. Take a look!
Peace building in Nigeria and behavioural insights - Trailer BIT 2023-02-01 | As part of the UK government's Smart Peace initiative, in Nigeria BIT applied behavioural insights to support peacebuilding in the ongoing conflict between Boko Haram and the Nigerian authorities. The project looked at how an existing mass media format, radio, can be used to help change entrenched attitudes and behaviours.Full video here: youtu.be/Ulzu05iTCpw
Net Zero as the easy option BIT 2023-01-25 | New research in BIT's 'How to build a Net Zero society' report finds that most people find it hard to make more sustainable choices in their own lives, despite 9 in 10 wanting to do so. They want to see strong leadership from government and business to make green choices easier. These high levels of public support aren't just in the abstract - there are big majorities in favour of a whole host of specific policy recommendations, including many often deemed more controversial.Listen to the team discuss this new research and what it means for how behavioural science can help reach Net Zero. The 'How to build a Net Zero society' report can be downloaded here: https://www.bi.team/publication/how-to-build-a-net-zero-society
The power of payroll savings for employers and employees BIT 2022-12-07 | A workplace payroll savings scheme can help employees build a valuable financial buffer for rainy days
Why is financial wellbeing important to employers? BIT 2022-12-07 | Insights from the Financial Capability Lab
How can financial institutions support the financial wellbeing of their customers? BIT 2022-12-07 | Particularly those struggling with money worries?
Online fraud, peacebuilding, road safety & synthetic data BIT 2022-05-05 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-pts6a-121b615Inside The Nudge Unit is a podcast from The Behavioural Insights Team. Episode 12 looks at recent work from the team in the areas of road safety, online fraud, conflict resolution and synthetic data.Over the past decade, car crash death rates in the US for pedestrians rose by 36%, even as death rates fell for drivers and passengers. Over a third of San Francisco’s traffic deaths are caused when drivers make left turns and don't see the person in the crosswalk. BIT’s Lis Costa is joined by Maximillian Kroner from our US office to discuss a pilot study conducted by BIT on the roads of San Francisco that reduced average speeds of cars approaching potentially dangerous turns by 17%. If you’re not familiar with the concept of synthetic data you are not alone but its potential in the fields of behavioural science and policy research is considerable. BIT’s Head of Data Science and Technology Dr Paul Calcraft spoke to BIT’s Aisling Colclough to explain more.Boko Haram in Nigeria has been conducting a violent campaign against the authorities for many years but increasingly members are turning away from the militant group, expressing remorse and asking to rejoin the society they were previously terrorising. BIT’s Dr Antonio Silva talks about the work the team have been doing to help with this reconciliation and reintegration challenge.Finally this episode of Inside The Nudge Unit features a project from BIT France looking at how to help protect people from the ever present risk of online fraud. This project was run with and financed by the DITP - France’s Département for Public Transformation. Tom McMinigal from BIT France speaks to BIT’s Andrew Schein about his experience pretending to sell coffee machines through a fake online scam to help teach people how to avoid the actual ones. More information can be found on our website www.bi.team:Road safety: https://www.bi.team/blogs/dangerous-left-turns-slow-by-17-in-traffic-study-leveraging-behavioral-science/Synthetic data: https://www.bi.team/blogs/accelerating-public-policy-research-with-easier-safer-synthetic-data/Peacebuilding: https://www.bi.team/blogs/can-mass-media-reduce-violent-conflict/Online fraud: https://www.modernisation.gouv.fr/publications/comment-mieux-proteger-le-consommateur-des-fraudes-lachat-en-ligne-la-ditp-mobilise Inside The Nudge Unit is a production of the Behavioural Insights TeamEditing and sound design is by Andy Hetherington of Studio Gibbon: facebook.com/thestudiogibbonProducer is Rich O’Brienopen.spotify.com/playlist/1m3zn3SHmMh3vuR13hkLCP?si=88ed700f455c4dc4
Decarbonising our food, transport & energy BIT 2021-11-08 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-desac-1123349In the second of a two-part climate change special, BIT’s Head of Energy & Sustainability, Toby Park, sits down with Cambridge University’s Professor Theresa Marteau, Moira Nicolson from the Cabinet Office and Valentine Quinio from the Centre for Cities to unpick three of the biggest areas we need to decarbonise to reach Net Zero by 2050: Food, Transport and Energy.We know we cannot achieve Net Zero without behaviour change - the question is, how we can make it happen and devise effective solutions to decarbonise the way we produce and eat food, the way we travel and the way we heat and power our homes. Our guests discuss the barriers that prevent us from eating more sustainably, uptaking public transport and electric vehicles and switching to green energy suppliers; and the potential levers we can use to change the behaviours of individuals, corporations and governments.Credits:Production and editing by Andy HetheringtonMusic by Rich O’Brienopen.spotify.com/playlist/1m3zn3SHmMh3vuR13hkLCP?si=88ed700f455c4dc4
Can we nudge to Net Zero? BIT 2021-10-27 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-24ydk-1116df3In the first of a two-part climate change special, BIT’s Lis Costa sits down with Nobel Prize Winner Professor Richard Thaler, Cambridge University’s Lucia A. Reisch and BIT CEO and founder Professor David Halpern to answer one big question ahead of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference: Can we Nudge to Net Zero?According to the Paris Agreement’s: Sixth Carbon Budget, in order to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, a 63% reduction in future emissions is required over the next decade or so. This is no mean feat! Such reductions will require substantial changes to our behaviour including the adoption of new technologies such as eco-friendly heating systems, and the reduction of our reliance on high carbon-footprint transportation systems such as flights and diesel cars.Our guests discuss how this behaviour change can be achieved; the psychological biases and barriers that stand in our way; and the role that corporations and government must play to make climate-friendly behaviours tenable. So, can we Nudge to Net Zero? Listen to find out!
Antibiotic resistance, health inequality and the replication crisis BIT 2021-10-21 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-qks7s-110e617On Christmas Eve December 2020, the World Health Organisation named Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and health inequities as 2 of the 10 global health threats to track in 2021. In 2019, we worked with the Health Quality and Safety Commission (HQSC) and PHARMAC to see how we can tackle both in Aotearoa New Zealand. The results of this work have just been published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, so we wanted to dedicate this episode of Inside the Nudge Unit to it. Peer-reviewed articles allow us to present the rigorous work that goes into running a Behavioural Insights (BI) project. However, journal articles often remove the work from its broader context and leave little space for describing the tribulations that go into running BI trials. In this episode, we cover the story of how the trial developed, and how it built on our earlier work in the UK and the work done by the Behavioural Economics Research Team in the Australian Department of Health (BERT) and the Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian government (BETA). We discuss how health inequities in Aotearoa New Zealand meant that we couldn’t just copy the letters used in the UK and Australia, and take a quick detour into the replication crisis. You’ll hear from Michael Hallsworth, who led the work in the UK, Janice Wilson, the CEO of the HQSC, Rawiri Jansen, a GP and member of the project's working group, and Nathan Chapell, who developed the letters we used in the project. Further readingIf you would like to read more about health inequities in New Zealand, you can read the paper mentioned by Rawiri Jansen here, as well as its follow up here. You can also read about the follow up to the UK study here, and the follow up to the Australian study here. If you are interested in learning more about the replication crisis, we would recommend this article. And if you would like to learn more about issues related to generalising studies from one area to another, we recommend you read this. Chapter 5 of Behavioral Insights, which was co authored by Michael Hallsworth (along with Elspeth Kirkman) also gives an overview of the issues discussed. Thanks to the large team of people who were involved in the project, especially Janice Wilson, Catherine Gerard, Richard Hamblin, Carl Shuker, Janet Mackay, Rawiri McKree Jansen, Richard Medlicott, Aniva Lawrence, Sally Roberts, Jan White and Leanne Te Karu. Music by Rich O’Brien open.spotify.com/playlist/1m3zn3SHmMh3vuR13hkLCP?si=e9e2193372664b6bProduction by Alex Gyani. Editing by Pixelife Studios.
Combatting sexual harassment and violence; economic policy-making BIT 2021-10-04 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-hhnhx-10f395cIn this latest episode of Inside The Nudge Unit BIT’s Aisling Colclough and Lis Costa look at two more major areas of work by the team around the world. First they are joined by colleagues Dr Vera Newman and Monica Wills Silva to explore BIT projects in Australia and Latin America looking at the role behavioural insights can play in helping reduce sexual harassment and violence against women on university campuses and in the home.Secondly Nida Broughton and Ravi Dutta-Powell join Lis and Aisling to discuss their recent thought leadership work on how applying a behavioural and experimental lens to economic policy-making can bring substantial benefits to all.The 2019 report referred to by Monica on applying behavioral insights to Intimate Partner Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean is available here: https://www.bi.team/publications/applying-behavioral-insights-to-intimate-partner-violence/You can find out more about the work discussed in Australia on encouraging bystanders to sexual harassment to take action here: https://www.bi.team/blogs/how-to-stop-sexual-harassment-as-a-bystander/BIT has also been doing some similar work in Bangladesh on reducing sexual harassment on public transport which you can read about here: https://www.bi.team/blogs/nudging-bystanders-to-fight-sexual-harassment-isnt-easy-but-could-make-perpetrators-think-twice/ and download the full report here: https://www.bi.team/publications/nudging-bystanders-to-combat-sexual-harassment-in-bangladesh/The two reports discussed by Nida and Ravi are available here:The Behavioural Economy - 10 evidenced-based strategies for policymakers, regulators and researchers: https://www.bi.team/publications/the-behavioural-economy/Making Markets Better - A policy manifesto for Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia: https://www.bi.team/publications/marking-markets-better/ Credits:Production and editing by Andy HetheringtonMusic by Rich O’Brienopen.spotify.com/playlist/1m3zn3SHmMh3vuR13hkLCP?si=88ed700f455c4dc4
Sharing Parental Care BIT 2021-06-24 | As part of the Gender & Behavioural Insights Programme, we ran field trials and lab studies with several partners to understand how to successfully encourage men to take more parental care wherever they would like to do so.
Making Recruitment Fair BIT 2021-06-24 | As part of the Gender & Behavioural Insights Programme, we ran field trials with CIPD and with the Ministry of Defence, as well as a lab study on Predictiv. We worked to level the playing field for women in the world of recruitment.
Making flexible working the norm BIT 2021-06-24 | As part of the Gender & Behavioural Insights Programme, we ran field trials and lab studies with several partners to understand how to successfully encourage flexible working to be the norm.
Increasing parental leave among fathers by tackling pluralistic ignorance BIT 2021-06-17 | According to recent research, 76% of mothers and 73% of fathers would like to work flexibly to spend more time with children - a remarkably similar proportion. Yet mothers are much more likely to work part-time than fathers. So if dads want to work flexibly, what’s stopping them? One barrier might be related to the idea of pluralistic ignorance. This is the tendency of people to hold a particular opinion privately while mistakenly believing the majority of people disagree with that opinion.
COVID vaccines & tech repairability BIT 2021-06-17 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-t58rm-1068583In this episode of Inside The Nudge Unit, BIT’s Lis Costa and Aisling Colclough look at two major pieces of work by the team.Firstly there is a discussion with Carolina Toth from BIT’s New York office who has been working with mayors across the US on how to engage with people who are cautious or unwilling to get a COVID-19 vaccine when they become eligible.With many from the communities hardest hit by the virus in the US, there has been an urgent need for effective messaging to ensure broad acceptance and uptake of the vaccine.Carolina explains how the team set out to understand the issues at play in this important area and how they developed strategies that would be welcomed and effective. Further reading on this project on the BIT blog in English here: https://www.bi.team/blogs/four-messages-that-can-increase-uptake-of-the-covid-19-vaccines/ And in Spanish here: https://www.bi.team/blogs/cuatro-mensajes-que-pueden-motivar-la-vacunacion-contra-el-covid-19/ Next Aisling and Lis are joined by Laura Litvine and Violette Gadenne from BIT France to talk about how they worked with the French Government to promote a more sustainable and circular economy by encouraging people to repair rather than replace tech products.The Government has developed a ‘repairability index’ for electronic goods in France and brought in BIT to look at how to build public awareness and engagement with the concept. It’s a fascinating project with implications for sustainability and technology across the world. Further reading can be found on the BIT blog in French here: https://www.bi.team/blogs/du-mal-a-resister-a-la-tentation-du-black-friday-quel-meilleur-jour-pour-penser-a-reparer-plutot-que-remplacer/ And in English here: https://www.bi.team/blogs/feeling-the-black-friday-impulse-try-repairing-not-replacing/Jargon bustingSome terms mentioned in this episode that might not be familiar to all listeners: Randomised control trials (RCTs) - In the context of BIT’s work, RCTs in public policy are a method of testing and evaluating interventions. They were first developed in medical research but have since been used in many areas of social policy as well. They are generally considered to be at the top of the evidence hierarchies used by the UK Government’s What Works Network, although not without controversy at times. They involve randomly allocating people to a treatment or a control group and then assessing their outcomes. If you would like to know more about RCTs and how to use them you can read our short paper on them: Test, Learn, Adapt. BIT’s Predictiv platform - BIT’s proprietary testing platform - bi.team/bi-ventures/predictiv/ Credits:Edited by Andy HetheringtonMusic by Rich O’Brienopen.spotify.com/playlist/1m3zn3SHmMh3vuR13hkLCP?si=88ed700f455c4dc4
Using targeted referrals to improve gender equality in recruitment BIT 2021-06-11 | We partnered with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to find ways to reduce their gender pay gap. We designed an intervention to diversify the range of people employees organically share new vacancies with by explicitly encouraging staff to share vacancies with underrepresented groups: targeted referrals. We also encouraged managers to participate with a friendly competition between departments. Like many organisations, MOD does not have a formal incentivised referrals scheme, so findings from this trial could apply to a wide range of male-dominated companies.
A decade of ‘nudge’ – in conversation with the pioneers (part 2 of 2) BIT 2021-05-06 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-hk48c-1016e5eThe second and final part of a very special episode of Inside the Nudge Unit, recorded to tie in with the recent 10 year anniversary of the Behavioural Insights Team. Join our CEO, Professor David Halpern, with the founders and pioneers of behavioural economics, Professor Richard Thaler, Professor Cass Sunstein and Google’s head behavioural scientist Dr Maya Shankar, discussing how ‘nudge’ has evolved over the last decade and where the science of human behaviour is headed next. Richard Thaler is the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioural economics. He has been at the forefront of research into psychology of decision-making and economics for over two decades and is the co-author of the international best seller Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness in which the concepts of behavioural economics are applied to tackle many of society’s biggest problems. As well as being co-author of the best-seller Nudge, Cass Sunstein is the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School and Chair of the World Health Organization’s technical advisory group on Behavioural Insights and Sciences for Health. From 2009 to 2012, he was Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and served on President Barack Obama’s Review Board on Intelligence and Communications Technologies and on the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Board. Maya Shankar is Google’s Global Director of Behavioral Economics and joined Cass Sunstein as a Senior Advisor within the Obama White House administration where she founded and served as Chair of the White House's Behavioral Science Team — a team of scientists charged with improving public policy using research insights about human behavior. Maya completed a post-doctoral fellowship in cognitive neuroscience at Stanford after receiving a Ph.D. from Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship and a B.A. from Yale in cognitive science. To learn more about BIT's first and next 10 years, go to www.bi.team/bit10. You can find every other episodes of Inside The Nudge Unit at www.bi.team/our-work/podcast-inside-the-nudge-unit and keep up to date with all our latest insights on Twitter @B_I_Tweets. Further readingNudge is available to buy as paperback or e-book on Amazon amazon.co.uk/Nudge-Improving-Decisions-Health-Happiness/dp/0141040017 Read more about Maya Shankar’s work on behavioural science at her website mayashankar.com/bio Check out Richard Thaler’s Nobel Prize winning work here nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2017/thaler/biographical Credits Editing by Andy HetheringtonMusic by Rich O’Brien
A decade of nudge - in conversation with the pioneers (part 1 of 2) BIT 2021-04-23 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-5gkyy-1016d90Part 1 of a very special episode of Inside the Nudge Unit, recorded to tie in with the recent 10 year anniversary of the Behavioural Insights Team. Join our CEO, Professor David Halpern, with the founders and pioneers of behavioural economics, Professor Richard Thaler, Professor Cass Sunstein and Google’s head behavioural scientist Dr Maya Shanker, discussing how ‘nudge’ has evolved over the last decade and where the science of human behaviour is headed next. Richard Thaler is the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioural economics. He has been at the forefront of research into psychology of decision-making and economics for over two decades and is the co-author of the international best seller Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness in which the concepts of behavioural economics are applied to tackle many of society’s biggest problems. As well as being co-author of the best-seller Nudge, Cass Sunstein is the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School and Chair of the World Health Organization’s technical advisory group on Behavioural Insights and Sciences for Health. From 2009 to 2012, he was Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and served on President Barack Obama’s Review Board on Intelligence and Communications Technologies and on the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Board. Maya Shankar is Google’s Global Director of Behavioral Economics and joined Cass Sunstein as a Senior Advisor within the Obama White House administration where she founded and served as Chair of the White House's Behavioral Science Team — a team of scientists charged with improving public policy using research insights about human behavior. Maya completed a post-doctoral fellowship in cognitive neuroscience at Stanford after receiving a Ph.D. from Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship and a B.A. from Yale in cognitive science. To learn more about BIT's first and next 10 years, go to www.bi.team/bit10. You can find every other episodes of Inside The Nudge Unit at www.bi.team/our-work/podcast-inside-the-nudge-unit and keep up to date with all our latest insights on Twitter @B_I_Tweets. Further reading Nudge is available to buy as paperback or e-book on Amazon amazon.co.uk/Nudge-Improving-Decisions-Health-Happiness/dp/0141040017 Read more about Maya Shankar’s work on behavioural science at her website mayashankar.com/bio Check out Richard Thaler’s Nobel Prize winning work here nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2017/thaler/biographical Credits Editing by Andy HetheringtonMusic by Rich O’Brien
Creating better markets BIT 2021-04-22 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-ghszg-ff5eeeIn this episode, BIT's CEO, Professor David Halpern, speaks to the New South Wales Minister for Customer Service, Victor Dominello. David and Victor cover a wide range of topics, starting with why other governments should have a Minister for Customer Service, how behavioural insights can improve economic policy, how markets can be made more transparent and when governments should intervene in markets. Victor has been the Member of Parliament for Ryde since 2008. He has held the position of Minister for Customer Service since April 2019. Prior to that Victor held the position of the Minister for Finance, Services and Property and was appointed the state’s first Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation in 2015. His earlier appointments include the Minister for Citizenship, Communities, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, the Minister for Veterans Affairs and the Assistant Minister for Education. As mentioned on the podcast, the NSW Behavioural Insights Unit was established in 2012 and has been located in the Department of Customer Service since 2019. You can keep up to date with the work that he has been doing through his website, LinkedIn and Twitter. Further reading If you want to read some news coverage about the FuelCheck app, you can go here or head to the FuelCheck website here. If you want to learn more about the Comprehensive Third Party reforms, you can read about it here. You can also read more about the work that the New South Wales Behavioural Insights Unit are doing here. Credits Editing by Evan Sycamnias at Pixelife StudioMusic by Rich O’BrienThanks to Ellie Wood at the Minister’s Office, and Dave Trudinger, Eva Koromilas and the Behavioural Insights Unit.
Creating evidence-based government BIT 2021-03-29 | Source:podbean.com/eau/pb-nuk9s-ff2202While the use of Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) in government was historically slow. Over the last 10 years, the Behavioural Insights Team has aimed to popularise the use of the RCTs and to support the work of the organisations like the Cochrane and Campbell collaboration to get evidence into policy. During this time, a passionate debate has raged between the proponents of RCTs and also those who have argued that RCTs may even be overused or that they are not driven by theory enough. However, this debate has not stopped action organisations like the Education Endowment Foundation supercharge the number of RCTs being funded, or organisations like Administrative Data Research UK or the UK Ministry of Justice’s Data Lab service finding new ways to support governments to be more effective.In this podcast, Alex Gyani in Sydney and Alex Sutherland in London discuss what being a fully evidenced based government means and how we can get there. We’ll start by discussing what it means to be evidence based, then highlight how BIT has been able to run trials at scale and how ‘nudge’ trials compare to those run in academia. Finally, we look to the future and the promise of machine learning and how AI might be able to help human decision making. If you would like to know more you can download Test learn adapt here and can also read our report on data science and behavioural insights here. If you would like to know more about the history of whey, you can go here. Credits: Editing by Evan Sycamnias at Pixelife StudioProduction by Alex Gyani Musical credits: Intro: Next to you by Jessie VillaOutro: Cassette Deck by Basketcase
Improving workplace equality with timely prompts BIT 2021-03-05 | In a landmark trial with Indeed, we prompted employers to consider if a job could be done flexibly at the point of advertising. Check out the results.
Using timely prompts to boost flexible working roles BIT 2021-03-05 | In one of the largest RCTs ever (20m applications!), we increased the number of flexible working roles advertised on the global job site Indeed by 20-30%, using timely on-screen prompts.
Build Back Better Webinar 6 - Helping people get back on track with their finances BIT 2020-12-18 | Join us for the 6th session in the Webinar Series Hindsight 2020: Build Back Better where we will explore how COVID-19 has impacted household finances and how research on the consumer response to the pandemic can help us design better tools to help build financial resilience.
Do Nudges Work? BIT 2020-12-10 | BIT Americas Managing Director Dr Michael Hallsworth in conversation with Dr Elizabeth Linos, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley about her work looking into the effectiveness of nudges and applied behavioural science interventions. Part of #BIT10
What are Behavioural Insights? BIT 2020-12-04 | We are The Behavioural Insights Team. What do we mean by 'Behavioural Insights'? Watch this short explainer to find out.
Build Back Better Webinar 5 - Tackling racial & ethnic inequalities BIT 2020-09-25 | In our 5th episode of the Build Back Better webinar series we take a look at one of the most divisive and documented issues in UK society today; racial and ethnic inequalities. Here we explore how the pandemic has impacted and highlighted inequalities between ethnic groups in the UK across a range of areas including employment, criminal justice, health and education. And discuss opportunities to drive positive change towards a more cohesive and equal society.Panelists:Sunder Katwala - British Future;Maria Sobolewska - University of Manchester;Trevor Phillips - Engage;Antonio Silva - BIT.
Build Back Better Webinar 4 - Changing work for the better BIT 2020-09-16 | The COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses around the world to adapt to a 'new normal'. The workplace has changed. Bustling offices have been replaced with makeshift desks at kitchen counters and the 9 to 5 workday has dissolved into a more flexible regime to accommodate a range of caring responsibilities.The transition has not been easy for employers, who, facing down the barrel of an economic recession, have had to evolve and innovate to maintain their viability. Employees have grappled with the changes too - sometimes with relish and sometimes with new found appreciation for past office habits and boundaries. The disruption to work life caused by the pandemic, while taxing, also presents organisations with an unprecedented opportunity to decide which aspects of the pre-COVID working system they want to keep and which parts they’d rather retire.In our 4th episode of the Hindsight 2020: Build Back Better series we bring experts in policy and industry together to explore; how the pandemic has changed the workplace; how these disruptions have impacted productivity and wellbeing; and how organisations can avoid sliding back into pre-COVID work patterns.Speakers include:Emma Stewart MBE - Timewise;Steve Collinson - Zurich Insurance;Peter Cheese - CIPD;Hannah Burd & Johannes Lohmann - BIT
Build Back Better Webinar 3 - Back to school in a pandemic BIT 2020-09-16 | COVID-19 has brought unprecedented challenges to the education system - with widespread nursery, school and university closures. Engagement with remote learning has been lower than with in-person education, particularly for disadvantaged school pupils, and immediate action is needed to help learners catch up. However, this period of disruption has also created unique opportunities for positive evolutions to the education system.This session brings together policy experts and practitioners to explore how learning has been disrupted by the pandemic and how education providers can address challenges and capitalise on opportunities for positive change.Panelists:Jonathan Kay - Education Endowment FoundationNatalie Perea - Education Policy InstituteRaj Chande - The Behavioural Insights Team & Mossbourne AcademyAnna Bird - The Behavioural Insights Team
BBB Sustainable transport in a post lockdown world BIT 2020-08-05 | The nationwide lockdown caused by COVID-19 has disrupted travel behaviours to an unprecedented extent. As the UK emerges from lockdown, there is a unique window of opportunity to develop policy and interventions harnessing the disruption and turning it into long-lasting changes to the way, and the amount, we travel.Our second webinar of the Build Back Better series gathers experts from policy, research and advocacy to explore how we can make the change stick, whether the focus should be on reducing travel vs shifting people to greener modes of transport, and what the responsibility of government, businesses and individuals is.
Build Back Better Webinar 1: Business behaviours and COVID19 BIT 2020-08-03 | COVID-19 brings unprecedented challenges to the ways that businesses and workplaces operate on a day-to-day basis. However, these disruptions also contain unique opportunities for beneficial evolutions to workplace cultures and the way businesses engage with their customers, competitors, and suppliers. This session, the first of our Hindsight 2020 Build Back Better series, brings together experts from industry and policy such as Tony Danker, CEO of Be the Business, Philip Hargreaves, Head of Access to Finance at GC Business Growth Hub, and Lis Costa, Director of Economic Policy, BIT, to explore how behaviours have been disrupted across UK organisations during the pandemic and how businesses can capitalise on opportunities for positive change.
Barrier Identification Tool | New Online Tool BIT 2020-05-27 | Whether you want people to uptake a new mental health service or to save more money each month, this new online tool can help you discover and overcome some of the behavioural barriers that might be hindering your desired outcome. Use the tool now http://www.bitbarriertool.com*The COM-B model of behaviour change was developed by Susan Michie and her team of behavioural experts at University College London.
Webinar: Creando comunicaciones efectivas en tiempos de crisis BIT 2020-05-22 | Desde febrero del 2020, nuestro equipo dedicado al COVID-19 ha apoyado la respuesta global a la crisis asesorando gobiernos y entidades públicas, informando cómo una estrategia basada en cambios comportamentales puede mejorar la eficacia de las comunicaciones acerca del coronavirus.El primer webinar en español de nuestra historia, presentó un panorama de la pandemia del coronavirus y recopiló algunos principios del comportamiento que pueden ser empleados para comunicar más efectivamente en estos momentos.¡Disfruta el video!
BIT Webinar: Crafting effective communications during the COVID-19 crisis. BIT 2020-04-30 | Since February 2020, our dedicated COVID-19 team has been supporting the global COVID-19 response by advising governments and public bodies on how a behavioural change approach can improve the efficacy of coronavirus communications. Now we want to share our findings with you! Our first ever webinar explored the coronavirus pandemic and collated some behavioural principles that can be used to communicate more effectively during this time. Happy viewing!
Sustainable Diets Strategy 12 - Choice architecture BIT 2020-01-30 | Toby Park of BIT's Energy and Sustainability team, talks about our new report, A Menu for Change, and the power of choice architecture, for example changing the default on flights or at catered events which would requiring meat-eaters to proactively opt out of the vegetarian option.
Sustainable Diets Strategy 11 - Timely prompts BIT 2020-01-30 | Toby Park of BIT explains how introducing things like online store checkouts could prompt people to make one-click substitutions to products with lower emissions.
Sustainable Diets Strategy 10 - Rules of Thumb BIT 2020-01-30 | On the back of BIT's new report on sustainable eating, A Menu for Change, Toby Park talks about how promoting simple heuristics (rules of thumb) like “red meat once a week” or “red meat’s a treat” can simplify the process of changing diets for consumers.
Sustainable Diets Strategy 9 - Eco-labels and ratings BIT 2020-01-30 | On the back of BIT's new report on sustainable eating, A Menu for Change, Toby Park explains how supermarket ‘environmental performance ratings’ could nudge consumers towards more sustainable diets create sustainability competition between shops.
Sustainable Diets Strategy 8 - Integrate, dont segregate BIT 2020-01-30 | On the back of BIT's new report on sustainable eating, A Menu for Change, Toby Park explains how putting vegetarian food in separate sections of menus and canteens actually reduces the chances that meat-eaters will choose them reinforces perceptions of ‘otherness’.
Sustainable Diets Strategy 7 - Make it mainstream BIT 2020-01-30 | Toby Park of BIT's Energy and Sustainability team, talks about our new report, A Menu for Change, and discusses the importance of giving plant-based food a ‘masculinity makeover’ to address negative associations of vegetarianism as weak and feminine.
Sustainable Diets Strategy 6 - Publicise the desirable norm. BIT 2020-01-30 | Toby Park of BIT's Energy and Sustainability team, talks about our new report, A Menu for Change, and discusses how communicating the desirable prevailing norm, or the shifting trend, in low-meat diets (e.g. ‘more and more people are cutting back on meat’) could help us foster greener eating habits.
Sustainable Diets Strategy 5 - Raise awareness, and build a mandate for strong policy. BIT 2020-01-30 | On the back of BIT's new report on sustainable eating, A Menu for Change, Toby Park discusses how raising awareness by harnessing influential messengers who have broad appeal and credibility (e.g. TV chefs, athletes, GPs, and cultural influencers), can boost the appetite for sustainable food and policy.
Sustainable Diets Strategy 4 - Campaign with pride and positivity BIT 2020-01-30 | Our Head of Energy and Sustainability, Toby Park, talks us through his fourth strategy to make diets more sustainable. Taking from BIT's new report, A Menu for Change, he explains why pride and positivity may be more effective at turning people on to greener choices than guilt, blame and righteousness.
Sustainable Diets Strategy 3 - Use promotions, incentives and games. BIT 2020-01-30 | Toby Park of BIT talks about how the food industry could use in-store promotions, 'gameification' and other behaviourally-informed incentives to encourage consumers to buy more sustainably.
