What a great post - thank you! A question for Jeff Kreisler: How can we use uncertain but positive outcomes - including prize draws and lotteries - to maximise public good and personal utility?
Great question Ben. I'm going to share with Jeff. But to draw an excerpt from his and Dan's book on this very theme:
'Maybe we could get people to spend more wisely and save more frequently if we offered reward substitutions for their rational behaviour. Some states are doing just that by offering “lotteries” for people who put money into savings accounts.
Each deposit is greeted with a ticket that offers a small chance of winning an additional amount of money. These lottery-based savings plans work. Yet another example of reward substitution.'
Peter Tufano did some really interesting work on this a while ago - including https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/08-061_17c22e32-fe06-4b4a-8b5e-e09227fc8104.pdf - and the UK Premium Bonds scheme is one of the cases he studies. May I modify my question to ask how far beyond savings schemes we can stretch this insight for positive pro-social behavioural change? I know there have been some experiments in offering lottery tickets to people taking vaccines for example.
What a great post - thank you! A question for Jeff Kreisler: How can we use uncertain but positive outcomes - including prize draws and lotteries - to maximise public good and personal utility?
Great question Ben. I'm going to share with Jeff. But to draw an excerpt from his and Dan's book on this very theme:
'Maybe we could get people to spend more wisely and save more frequently if we offered reward substitutions for their rational behaviour. Some states are doing just that by offering “lotteries” for people who put money into savings accounts.
Each deposit is greeted with a ticket that offers a small chance of winning an additional amount of money. These lottery-based savings plans work. Yet another example of reward substitution.'
Peter Tufano did some really interesting work on this a while ago - including https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/08-061_17c22e32-fe06-4b4a-8b5e-e09227fc8104.pdf - and the UK Premium Bonds scheme is one of the cases he studies. May I modify my question to ask how far beyond savings schemes we can stretch this insight for positive pro-social behavioural change? I know there have been some experiments in offering lottery tickets to people taking vaccines for example.