VIRTUAL EVENT: What Works, What Doesn't: Case Studies in Behavioral Science

Topic:What Works, What Doesn't (and When): Case Studies in Applied Behavioral Science

Speakers:

Michael Hallsworth, Managing Director, Americas, The Behavioral Insights Team

Nicole Robitaille, Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Smith School of Business, Queen’s University

Anisha Singh, PhD student, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Chiara Varazzani, Lead Behavioral Scientist, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD - OCDE)

Moderator: Dilip Soman, Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Science and Economics; Director, BEAR

Co-hosted by: Behavioural Economics in Action at Rotman (BEAR)

Session Synopsis:

Join the Rotman School and BEAR for a book launch event for What Works, What Doesn't (and When): Case Studies in Applied Behavioral Science, edited by Dilip Soman.

The event will include short presentations from three featured contributors to the book, followed by a panel conversation. Featured presentations include:

Nicole Robitaille on NUDGING SUCCESSFULLY ACROSS CONTEXTS: PLANNING PROMPT INTERVENTIONS TRANSLATED ACROSS PEOPLE, PLACES, AND TIME

Anisha Singh on TAKING CONTEXT SERIOUSLY: ITERATIVELY TRANSLATING LAB TO FIELD INTERVENTIONS FOR ANEMIA PREVENTION IN RURAL INDIA

Chiara Varazzani on IMPACTS OF ACCURACY PROMPTS ON MISINFORMATION SHARING

Book Synopsis:

How well do behavioral science interventions translate and scale in the real world? Consider a practitioner who is looking to create behavior change through an intervention – perhaps it involves getting people to conserve energy, increase compliance with a medication regime, reduce misinformation, or improve tax collection. The behavioral science practitioner will typically draw inspiration from a previous study or intervention to translate into their own intervention.

The latest book in the Behaviourally Informed Organizations series, What Works, What Doesn’t (and When) presents a collection of studies in applied behavioral research with a behind-the-scenes look at how the project actually unfolded. Using seventeen case studies of such translation and scaling projects in diverse domains such as financial decisions, health, energy conservation, development, reducing absenteeism, diversity and inclusion, and reducing fare evasion, the book outlines the processes, the potential pitfalls, as well as some prescriptions on how to enhance the success of behavioral interventions. Cases showcase how behavioral science research is done – from getting inspiration, adapting research into context, designing tailored interventions, and comparing and reconciling results.

With contributions from leading academics and seasoned practitioners, What Works, What Doesn’t (and When) .provides prescriptive advice on how to make behavior change projects happen and what pitfalls to watch out for.

About our Speakers:

Nicole Robitaille is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Smith School of Business, Queen’s University. As a behavioral scientist her research lies at the intersection of consumer behavior and decision making, with a focus on discovering ways to improve consumer welfare, marketing, and public policy. She uses both laboratory and field experiments to investigate questions across a variety of domains including financial, health and sustainable behaviors. Her work is published in the Journal of Marketing, Management Science, and the Harvard Business Review and has been presented at numerous international conferences.

In addition to her academic work, Nicole recently served on the National Financial Literacy Research Sub-Committee for the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. She has also worked as an advisor to the Government of Canada’s Behavioural Insights Unit and the Ontario Government’s Behavioural Insights Unit, where she formally worked as Chief Researcher. Her work on increasing organ donation with the Ontario Government was awarded a Financial Times 2023 Responsible Business Education Award, the Ontario Government’s prestigious Amethyst Award for Outstanding Achievement, and was honored as an AMA/Marketing Science Institute/H. Paul Root Award Finalist.

Nicole received her PhD from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. She earned her MSc (Marketing) from Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business

Michael Hallsworth is Chief Behavioral Scientist at the Behavioral Insights Team (BIT). BIT was set up by the then UK Prime Minister in 2010 as the first government institution dedicated to applying behavioral sciences. BIT is now a world-leading organization that helps organizations to apply behavioral science in support of social purpose goals.

Michael has been a leading figure in developing the field of applying behavioral science to policy issues. For 18 years, he has worked as both an official and an advisor to various governments. He is the co-author of the book Behavioral Insights from MIT Press, and his work has been published in, among others, The Lancet, the Journal of Public Economics, and Nature Human Behaviour.

He has a PhD in behavioral economics from Imperial College London, was an Assistant Professor at Columbia University, and is currently Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania and a Visiting Lecturer at Princeton University. He is an Advisory Board member at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Social Norms and Behavioral Dynamics, and a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Behavioral Public Policy.

Anisha Singh is currently a PhD student at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) applying behavioural insights to managerial decision-making within workplaces. Prior to joining the PhD program, she was a Vice President with the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics in Kenya, Practitioner-in-Residence at MIT GOV/LAB, worked with IFMR LEAD in India and occasionally taught Behavioral Experiments for International Development at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.

Dr Chiara Varazzani is Lead Behavioural Scientist at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Dr Varazzani’s work includes fostering a global community of behavioural experts, helping governments tackle policy challenges and run experiments - to better understand what works, for whom and in what context - and providing expert behavioural advice across many policy areas such as health, climate change, competition, financial decision-making, and misinformation. Dr Varazzani also serves as a member of the Technical Advisory Group on Behavioural Insights for the World Health Organization (WHO). Prior to this, Dr Varazzani held several positions in government: she was Principal Advisor of the Behavioural Insights Unit of the Victorian Government in Australia, Advisor in behavioural economics to the Australian Federal Government, and Research Fellow at the Behavioural Insights Team in London. Dr Varazzani holds a PhD in Behavioural Neuroscience from Sorbonne University, a MSc from the School for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences and a MSc in Cognitive Sciences from the École Normale Supérieure.

Moderator: Dilip Soman is a Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Science and Economics, and serves as a Director of the Behavioural Economics in Action Research Centre at Rotman [BEAR]. His research is in the area of behavioural science and its applications to consumer wellbeing, marketing and policy. He is the author of The Last Mile [University of Toronto Press] and teaches a massive open online course [MOOC] "BE101X: Behavioural Economics in Action" on EdX.

Event Logistics:

This event is available to attend via livestream only.

Rotman Events is committed to accessibility for all people. If you have any access needs or if there are any ways we can support your full participation in this session, please email [events@rotman.utoronto.ca] no later than 2 weeks in advance of the event and we will be glad to work with you to make the appropriate arrangements.

General Admission: Livestream Ticket Details

Rotman Events will email registrants a link to the livestream. Your registration fee includes access to the livestream, video replay for 30 days, a copy of the book and shipping fees. The book will be shipped to registrants after the event. Please allow 3 - 4 weeks for delivery.

30-day Catch-up Viewing

Unable to attend the event due to scheduling conflicts? Not to worry. All registrants (in-person or livestream) can access the full recording on-demand for one month after the live event.

Cancellation & Refund Policy

Refunds will only be issued for cancellations received in writing NO LATER than 24 hours prior to the event. Please email events@rotman.utoronto.ca for processing.

Questions: events@rotman.utoronto.ca, Megan Murphy