Encouraging consumers to seek out and switch to lower-rate mortgages is important both for the individual consumer's finances and for functioning competitive markets, but switching rates are low. We conducted an experiment with mortgage-holders to test whether official advice on how to select...

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...

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...

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...

A basic function of government is to manage environmental risks. This requires measurement of how the public perceive different risks, but it is hard to measure risk perceptions in a neutral, unbiased way. In a pre-registered experiment with a nationally representative sample (N = 800), we...

Five hundred young people (aged 16 to 24 years) took part in a short, online study about the environment. The study focused on knowledge and beliefs about climate change mitigation. We recorded the climate-friendly behaviours young people in Ireland report engaging in, as well as their knowledge...

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...

Mitigating climate change requires large and, by historical standards, rapid changes to policy, business processes and individual behaviour. This report examines awareness of and perceived difficulty with individual behaviour change with respect to two actions associated with high levels of...

Identifying whether hyperbolic advertising claims influence consumers is important for consumer protection, but differentiating mere "puffery" from misleading advertising is not straightforward. We conducted a pre-registered experiment to determine whether pseudo-technical advertising claims...

This paper summarises useful evidence from behavioural science for fighting the COVID-19 outbreak. It is based on an extensive literature search of relevant behavioural interventions and studies of crises. The findings aim to be useful not only to government and public authorities, but to...