Many households lack savings to cushion them from financial shocks. While behavioural economics offers insights into why some households fail to save, successful behavioural interventions to increase precautionary saving are elusive. We present two interventions, which were tested in a...

Generations differ in their contribution to climate change and susceptibility to its effects. Framing climate change as an intergenerational issue may therefore alter public engagement. We report a pre-registered, online experiment with a youth sample (N = 500, aged 16-24 years) that tested...

Replacing car travel with walking and cycling lowers emissions, improves air quality and makes communities healthier. Rates of active travel typically increase when dedicated infrastructure is implemented. But policymakers in multiple countries regularly contend with two obstacles: designing...

Transitioning to the green economy relies on new developments that may negatively affect people's localities and involve certain risks. This study investigates how people form opinions about such developments, using mineral exploration and mining as an example. A representative sample (N=1000)...

Many economic decisions rely on a fast, intuitive system of numerical cognition. When trying to judge the sum of a sequence of numbers, this system produces non-random errors: on average, it underestimates. This underestimation bias is thought to be caused by a compressive scaling of numbers...

Exposure to radon gas is a leading cause of lung cancer. Testing homes for the gas is straightforward, yet most people do not undertake tests even when offered freely. We report a pre-registered randomised controlled trial of communications to encourage test uptake. Households (N = 3,500) in...

The present research investigates how consumers engage with the Irish financial retail market when choosing and switching financial products. Data were gathered from a nationally representative sample of 2,903 individuals who are involved in their household financial decisions. The study used...

The market of private health insurance is characterised by high level of consumer inertia. Low consumer activity is probably linked to product complexity, abundance of choice options and low consumer understanding. These factors may overwhelm consumers and reduce willingness to engage with the...

This study demonstrates how status quo bias (SQB) acts as an obstacle to active travel policy. A pre-registered experiment was undertaken to measure the strength of SQB and to illuminate its likely causes. A large, nationally representative sample evaluated descriptions of a town layout designed...