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What we can learn from five naturalistic field experiments that failed to shift commuter behaviour

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  • Ariella S. Kristal

    (Harvard Business School)

  • Ashley V. Whillans

    (Harvard Business School)

Abstract

Across five field experiments with employees of a large organization (n = 68,915), we examined whether standard behavioural interventions (‘nudges’) successfully reduced single-occupancy vehicle commutes. In Studies 1 and 2, we sent letters and emails with nudges designed to increase carpooling. These interventions failed to increase carpool sign-up or usage. In Studies 3a and 4, we examined the efficacy of other well-established behavioural interventions: non-cash incentives and personalized travel plans. Again, we found no positive effect of these interventions. Across studies, effect sizes ranged from Cohen’s d = −0.01 to d = 0.05. Equivalence testing, using study-specific smallest effect sizes of interest, revealed that the treatment effects observed in four out of five of our experiments were statistically equivalent to zero (P

Suggested Citation

  • Ariella S. Kristal & Ashley V. Whillans, 2020. "What we can learn from five naturalistic field experiments that failed to shift commuter behaviour," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(2), pages 169-176, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:4:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1038_s41562-019-0795-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-019-0795-z
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    1. Rustam Romaniuc & Andrea Guido & Pierre Baudry & Cécile Bazart & Loïc Berger & Noémi Berlin & Aurélie Bonein & Imen Bouhlel & Kene Boun My & Michela Chessa & Paolo Crosetto & Etienne Dagorn & Quentin , 2024. "The limits of behavioral nudges to increase youth turnout: Experimental evidence from two French elections," CEE-M Working Papers hal-04677596, CEE-M, Universtiy of Montpellier, CNRS, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro.
    2. Bao, Helen X.H. & Robinson, Guy M., 2022. "Behavioural land use policy studies: Past, present, and future," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    3. Brough, Rebecca & Freedman, Matthew & Phillips, David C., 2022. "Experimental evidence on the effects of means-tested public transportation subsidies on travel behavior," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    4. Leonidas G. Anthopoulos & Dimitrios N. Tzimos, 2021. "Carpooling Platforms as Smart City Projects: A Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-29, September.
    5. Falco, Paolo & Zaccagni, Sarah, 2020. "Promoting social distancing in a pandemic: Beyond the good intentions," OSF Preprints a2nys, Center for Open Science.
    6. Gessner, Johannes & Habla, Wolfgang & Wagner, Ulrich J., 2023. "Can social comparisons and moral appeals increase public transport ridership and decrease car use?," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-003, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Andor, Mark Andreas & Dehos, Fabian & Gillingham, Kenneth & Hansteen, Sven & Tomberg, Lukas, 2023. "Public transport pricing: An evaluation of the 9-Euro Ticket and an alternative policy proposal," Ruhr Economic Papers 1045, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    8. Xiao, Lin & Wu, Jiyan & Sun, Jian & Tian, Ye, 2024. "Money is power: Carpooling stimulus with evidence from an interactive long-term laboratory experiment," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 55-70.
    9. Piras, Francesco & Sottile, Eleonora & Tuveri, Giovanni & Meloni, Italo, 2022. "Does the joint implementation of hard and soft transportation policies lead to travel behavior change? An experimental analysis," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    10. Coby Morvinski & Silvia Saccardo & On Amir, 2023. "Mis-Nudging Morality," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 464-474, January.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. Shusaku Sasaki & Hirofumi Kurokawa & Fumio Ohtake, 2021. "Effective but fragile? Responses to repeated nudge-based messages for preventing the spread of COVID-19 infection," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 72(3), pages 371-408, July.
    14. Gershoni, Naomi & Stryjan, Miri, 2023. "Do Deadlines Affect Project Completion? Experimental Evidence from Israeli Vocational Colleges," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 359-375.
    15. d’Adda, Giovanna & Gao, Yu & Golman, Russell & Tavoni, Massimo, 2024. "Strategic information avoidance, belief manipulation and the effectiveness of green nudges," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    16. Amelie Griesoph & Stefan Hoffmann & Christine Merk & Katrin Rehdanz & Ulrich Schmidt, 2021. "Guess What …?—How Guessed Norms Nudge Climate-Friendly Food Choices in Real-Life Settings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-18, August.
    17. Johannes Gessner & Wolfgang Habla & Ulrich J. Wagner, 2023. "Can Social Comparisons and Moral Appeals Induce a Modal Shift Towards Low-Emission Transport Modes?," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2023_451, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    18. Hurwitz, Abigail & Mitchell, Olivia S. & Sade, Orly, 2022. "Testing methods to enhance longevity awareness," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 466-475.
    19. Barbour, Natalia & Abdel-Aty, Mohamed & Sevim, Alican, 2024. "Intended work from home frequency after the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of socio-demographic, psychological, disability, and work-related factors," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    20. Gee, Laura K. & Kiyawat, Anoushka & Meer, Jonathan & Schreck, Michael J., 2024. "Pivotal or popular: The effects of social information and feeling pivotal on civic actions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 404-413.
    21. Narayanan, Santhanakrishnan & Antoniou, Constantinos, 2023. "Shared mobility services towards Mobility as a Service (MaaS): What, who and when?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    22. Leonie Decrinis & Wolfgang Freibichler & Micha Kaiser & Cass R. Sunstein & Lucia A. Reisch, 2023. "Sustainable behaviour at work: How message framing encourages employees to choose electric vehicles," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5650-5668, December.
    23. Johannes Gessner & Wolfgang Habla & Ulrich J. Wagner, 2023. "Can Social Comparisons and Moral Appeals Induce a Modal Shift Towards Low-Emission Transport Modes?," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2023_451v2, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.

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