Behavioural science meets landlords

A simple yet powerful mantra proposed by Richard Thaler, co-author of the book Nudge with Cass Sunstein is - “If you want someone to do something, make it easy”. In early trials with the government’s Nudge Unit, Thaler and team discovered that people were more likely to insulate their attics if they were offered help clearing them. Drawing inspiration from the work of Nobel laureate Richard Thaler, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) partnered with our behavioural science team at Ogilvy to motivate landlords in New Zealand to insulate their homes.

Our Experiment

We conducted an insights review (understanding drivers and barriers), used a behavioural science framework (optimised four messages) and developed a robust experimental design to maximise effectiveness (test-learnadapt approach for multiple messages).

• Hyperbolic discounting – Landlords may put off insulation for the future as there is no immediate reward for investing money towards tenants’ insulation

• Confirmation bias – Referring to landlords with positive attributes like ‘astute’ and ‘clever’ will help place an emphasis on their good decision-making skills

• Framing - Highlighting the highly attractive savings (i.e. 50% off) can motivate landlords to insulate their properties

• Scarcity – Claiming the limited subsidy in a timely manner can motivate landlords

Behavioural science framework:

The EAST framework developed by the Behavioural Insights Team in 2012 enables practitioners to test insights using four simple ways. The framework proposes - If you want someone to change behaviour make it Easy,

Attractive, Social and Timely (EAST). We conceptualisedthe creative proposition ‘Whatkind of landlord are you?’ and applied the framework to develop four messages around this creative:

The Results

The ‘Attractive’ message was most effective in both channels, delivering 315% more clicks in banner advertisements (z = 527.24, p < 0.01) and 162% more clicks in video advertisements (z =112.46, p < 0.01). This suggests that landlords were more motivated by the ‘Attractive’ subsidy compared to getting help from experts, providing a healthy home like other caring landlords or the scarcity of the limited offer. Interestingly, all four messages indicated that there was a subsidy available, however the subsidy being framed as an attractive offer was the little nudge that makes a big difference.

Delivering effective behaviour change:

Using behavioural insights and an experiment design through the test-learn-adapt methodology allowed us to get more registrations (8,283 referral leads for 6,000 target) and delivered real-world behaviour change with greater uptake of installations than we targeted (1,888 insulations installed for 1,200 target).

Vishal hosts the Wellington and Auckland Behavioural Economics Networks, bringing together private sector, government and academia to share learnings in the field and tackle socially relevant issues includingrecycling, climate change and unconscious bias at the workplace.

Join the meetup to learn more about behavioural economics, participate in the discussions and share yourlearnings with the community.

Auckland Behavioural Economics Network www.meetup.com/Auckland-Behavioural-Economics-Network/

Wellington Behavioural Economics Network www.meetup.com/Wellington-Behavioural-Economics-Science-Network/