Behavioural interventions land in social worlds where people copy one another, though not all in the same way. New research shows a campaign can stall, drift or cascade depending on whether people follow the majority, the prestigious or the successful. Policy design should pay attention to how people learn from each other.

The article by Jérémie Beucler and Wim De Nys critiques dual-process theory, highlighting some of its simplifications. They argue that intuition can be sound and deliberation sometimes ineffective in enhancing decision-making. Their research suggests that smarter individuals exhibit better intuitions, advocating for a focus on developing better intuitive judgment rather than solely promoting deliberation.

The worry is that nudges may bypass deliberate choice-making and leave people feeling manipulated by steering behaviour without their awareness. The most popular response is simply to tell people they are being nudged through a disclosure message attached to the intervention. But does disclosing a nudge actually make people feel more in control? And does it make the nudge any more effective?

Research on behavioral public policy (BPP) has rapidly increased in the past decade, with a notable rise in publications from 891 articles (1980-2018) to 876 in just five years (2019-2024). The analysis reveals BPP's growing geographical diversity and engagement with contemporary issues. Additionally, BPP plays a critical role in policy legitimacy beyond intervention effectiveness.

Achieving net zero will require transforming the homes we already live in, improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Retrofitting will depend on technologies, finance, and infrastructure - and also on trust, participation, and collective ownership. It is about working with the people who live in them.

Boosts are behavioural interventions that improve decisions by teaching people simple skills. In sustainability, the main barrier is often not willingness, but know-how. Drawing on new evidence, Yavor Paunov argues that boosts can build lasting competences, helping people make sustainable choices even after the policy intervention itself is removed.

Messages like “gamble responsibly” frame gambling harms as a matter of individual responsibility. Counter-industry warnings such as “gambling products are designed to be addictive” instead highlight systemic drivers of harmful gambling. In this blogpost, Maira Andrade and Philip Newall show how policymakers could best use such counter-industry warnings.

Decision-making is not just above-the-neck cognitive processing. It occurs within a specific, embodied human form who experiences the world in a physical way. This needs to be given due attention when designing and implementing behavioural interventions.

Does a public sector culture promotes honesty among workers?Through randomised trials in five countries, this research finds no evidence that activating a public sector identity reduces cheating. Policymakers should implement concrete measures for integrity instead of relying on assumed virtues

What happens when policy interventions are rolled out without engaging with those affected the most? Solutions that look good on paper but fail in practice. Collaboration is not just an ethical ideal, but a practical necessity for creating interventions that work in the real world.

Sludge hinders people in achieving their objectives by making things harder. Sludge audits are increasingly popular, but where can and should sludge research go next?

Edutainment can shape audiences’ attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. A meta-analysis of 77 experimental studies shows that the effects are real, nudging people in the intended direction.

Policies designed to encourage people to speak up – from whistleblower protections to conflict-of-interest disclosures – often fail because they address informational barriers, not social ones. Effective policy must reduce the social cost of dissent, not just permit it.

Is Behavioural Public Policy (BPP) about correcting biased decisions or working with people’s adaptive heuristics? This blog argues the 'rationality wars' are not new, and the plurality of rationality can be an asset.

Littering is one of those persistent public problems that often feels unsolvable. Campaigns urging people to "do the right thing" rarely lead to lasting behaviour change, and enforcement is costly. A behaviourally-informed digital intervention is tested and shown to shift public habits more effectively.

Public programs often struggle to reach the people they are meant to help. In this blog post, Christian Schimpf, Vince Hopkins, Priscilla Fisher, and Jeff Dorion explain how behaviourally-informed email messages can successfully encourage enrolment in employment services.

Much of public life is built on the assumption we act honestly with one another and with the state. But self-interest and wider perceptions of corruption and trust might lead to dishonest behaviour. Can we encourage more honesty through a simple nudge?

What if the secret to boosting productivity isn’t stricter rules or higher pay, but something as simple as giving workers a voice? Sherry Jueyu Wu shares a field experiment from the production floors of a Chinese factory, which asked whether participatory meetings – in which workers spoke and supervisors listened – could increase productivity. The answer is yes. These findings challenge conventional wisdom about hierarchy and efficiency, and suggest that voice may be a powerful yet underutilized tool for organizations.

When we talk about behavioural interventions, we often need to simplify complex concepts, but this can leave critical questions unanswered. The META-BI framework provides shared terminology to foster clearer and more productive behavioural science discussions, across disciplines and with practitioners.

A one-size-fits-all approach to nudging can be ineffective, or even backfire. Personalising nudges is a way of recognising and acting upon known heterogeneity across and within groups of people to deliver successful behaviour change.

Recommender systems are online algorithms that can help users, reducing complexity and search costs. But they also target and exploit behavioral biases. Recommender systems lend themselves to regulation through 'budges'.

System change and individual behavior change are often conceptualized as mutually exclusive strategies for climate change mitigation – but what if this duality is misguided? Denise de Ridder and Sander Thomaes map four pathways illustrating that system change is effective when it promotes behavior change and vice versa.

AI safety discussions predominantly focus on easy to conceptualise, highly salient risks including algorithm bias, hallucinations and disinformation. While these are crucial concerns, they overlook a fundamental truth we've learned from other high-stakes fields like aviation and healthcare: sometimes the most dangerous risks can hide in plain sight. Dr Moira Nicolson and Holly Marquez (Government Communications, Cabinet Office, UK Government) introduce a framework for anticipating and managing these risks, supporting a safer rollout of AI use in the public sector and beyond.

From keynote visions of ‘Behavioural AI’ to field experiments on job matching and green transport, the 2025 BPP Workshop in Singapore showcased how rigorous behavioural science meets real-world policy. Two days blended cross-disciplinary panels, data-rich case studies and Marina Bay networking, sparking fresh collaborations across sustainability, labour, finance and AI.

What if climate communication could enhance support for unpopular but necessary policies? Valerie Dewaelheyns and colleagues show that collective action framing can increase public acceptance of climate adaptation policies and strengthen citizens' belief in society's collective power to tackle climate change.

As global temperatures rise, so does our reliance on air conditioning (AC), which accounts for 7% of global electricity use in 2022. But what if the solution to sustainable cooling is not just about better AC technology to cool the entire space, but about changing our behaviour to cooling ourselves? Maggie Yang explores how social norms can encourage office workers in China to adopt personal cooling strategies, potentially saving energy while maintaining comfort.

Academics and civil servants have an interest in effective collaboration and “knowledge exchange”, including the sharing of ideas, evidence and expertise. However, the two sectors have different ways of operating and different – sometimes competing – goals. If they can understand each other better, then they can get the most out of working together.

Tax compliance remains a thorny issue for governments worldwide—especially in developing countries where informal economic activity, mistrust in government, and limited enforcement capacity create persistent gaps between potential and actual tax revenues. Can a few carefully worded text messages make a difference?

Air pollution is a worldwide challenge. Despite the serious environmental and health effects, pollution can go unnoticed until very dangerous levels are reached. Rita Abdel Sater, Mathieu Perona, Elise Huillery and Coralie Chevallier use a novel and safe method to make pollution more visible, and demonstrate that personalised feedback can change household behaviours. The Great Smog of London: when pollution became impossible to ignore…

The IPCC suggest that a further 40-70% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions could be achieved with more extensive sustainable behaviour change. Yet, when this change impinges on our daily lives, some initial pushback is inevitable. This article explores how trust, fairness, and transparency create conditions in which people feel confident to embrace lifestyle changes to benefit their own health and the future of the planet.

Mathieu Prevelato introduces a new study exploring policy makers’ views on the ethics of behavioural public policy, and invites feedback on it.

Policymakers often introduce programs to encourage businesses to adopt environmentally friendly practices. But even minor administrative hurdles - known as "sludge" - can significantly reduce take-up of sustainable practices. Manuel Grieder, Deborah Kistler and Jan Schmitz draw on a field experiment with Swiss firms and offer ways forward.

Misinformation thrives in an environment where platform providers shape the rules yet evade responsibility. As companies like Meta and X dismantle fact-checking and relax content moderation, users are left to navigate a fragmented and often deceptive digital landscape. But behavioural science offers solutions. In this blog, Christoph M. Abels walks us through the strategies that help individuals critically assess information, resist manipulation, and adapt to a world where platforms no longer seriously attempt to verify content for accuracy.

Ivo Vlaev and Marco J Haenssgen argue that research and policy collaboration with indigenous communities is key to long term conservation success.

In our first blogpost of 2025, Leonhard Lades and Kate Laffan look ahead to the exciting events and opportunities for the IBPPA community. Hope you can join us! Get involved, stay informed, become a member. A lot is happening in the world of behavioural public policy (BPP)! While BPP is still a relatively young scientific field, the activities happening this year suggest that we are maturing and growing, which is looking promising for the future.

Ivo Vlaev, Professor of Behavioural Science, University of Warwick New Year’s resolutions represent more than just a fleeting tradition; they offer a powerful opportunity for self-reflection and in…

Ivo Vlaev, Professor of Behavioural Science, University of Warwick New Year’s resolutions represent more than just a fleeting tradition; they offer a powerful opportunity for self-reflection and intentional growth. Rooted in six fundamental psychological needs shared by all humans, resolutions serve as a catalyst for meaningful change. Here’s why they matter and how they can transform lives. 1. Reflection and Growth…

The International Behavioural Public Policy Association provides an umbrella organisation for all those who are involved and/or interested in the growing multidisciplinary field of behavioural public ...

Rob Velzeboer, University of British Columbia Excessive meat consumption is increasingly scrutinised for its impacts on the environment, animal welfare, and public health. Men’s consumption of meat…

Four SINS in behavioural public policy

Wed, 11 Dec

Wed, 11 Dec

6.30pm Mon 9 Dec | Adam Oliver | Free public event at LSE