Should you pay people to change behaviour?
Jun 25, 2024
Paying people to change behaviour doesn’t always work.
When trying to ban single use plastic bags from supermarkets, for example, a popular suggestion is to reward people for using reusable bags.
A less popular suggestion is to penalise those who don’t.
Well, here’s what behavioural research tells us.
In a study across 16,000 US shoppers, when people were paid a 5c BONUS for reusable bags, it did NOTHING to change behaviour.
When shoppers were hit with a 5c PENALTY,...
