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When nudges aren’t enough: Norms, incentives and habit formation in public transport usage

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  • Gravert, Christina
  • Olsson Collentine, Linus

Abstract

In a large-scale natural experiment with over 14,000 individuals, we investigate whether public transport usage can be influenced by social norms and by economic incentives. Despite their effectiveness in other domains, we find a tightly estimated zero for descriptive social norms on ridership. Increasing the economic incentive, by doubling the trial period, significantly increases uptake and long-term usage. This increase is sustained for months after removing the incentive. The effect is mainly driven by initial low users, which is evidence for habit formation and highlights the heterogeneous effects of the policy. While there is scope for long-term behavior change, norm nudges might not be the most promising approach.

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  • Gravert, Christina & Olsson Collentine, Linus, 2021. "When nudges aren’t enough: Norms, incentives and habit formation in public transport usage," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 1-14.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:190:y:2021:i:c:p:1-14
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.07.012
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    2. Banerjee, Sanchayan & Picard, Julien, 2023. "Thinking through norms can make them more effective. Experimental evidence on reflective climate policies in the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120057, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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    5. Lassi Ahlvik & Anna Sahari, 2023. "Promoting active transport through health information: evidence from a randomized controlled trial," Working Papers 16, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research.
    6. Alexander Goetz & Ioana Marinica & Harald Mayr & Luca Mosetti & Renate Schubert, 2024. "Do mobile applications foster sustainable mobility? Evidence from a field experiment," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 160(1), pages 1-33, December.
    7. Paulius Yamin & Luis Artavia-Mora & Benita Martunaite & Shaon Lahiri, 2023. "Installations for Civic Culture: Behavioral Policy Interventions to Promote Social Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-21, February.
    8. Astrid Dannenberg & Gunnar Gutsche & Marlene Batzke & Sven Christens & Daniel Engler & Fabian Mankat & Sophia Moeller & Eva Weingaertner & Andreas Ernst & Marcel Lumkowsky & Georg von Wangenheim & Ger, 2022. "The effects of norms on environmental behavior," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202219, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Transport; Nudging; Field experiment; Habit formation; Social norms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • L91 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Transportation: General

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