How Do Behavioral Science Findings Transfer across Contexts?
How Do Behavioral Science Findings Transfer across Contexts?
Nudges that previously worked in the real world increased the uptake of COVID-19 booster vaccines, while encouragement based on lab findings and experts’ insights proved less effective
A new paper scheduled to appear in Nature Human Behavior reports that nudges to get vaccinated for COVID-19 that had proven effective in prior real-world field tests were also effective in encouraging people to get a booster vaccination. UCLA Anderson School of Management’s Hengchen Dai, an associate professor of management and organizations and behavioral decision making, jointly supervised the research with Silvia Saccardo, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University. The forthcoming paper draws on 2021 research led by Dai and Saccardo published in the journal Nature.
In an earlier article, Dai, Saccardo and their co-authors at UCLA Health, Dr. Daniel Croymans and Dr. Marian Han examined the effectiveness of different types of text messages encouraging patients to get a COVID-19 vaccine. That research, as described in UCLA Anderson Review, revealed that a text message implying a hint of ownership, with a note to “Claim your dose by making a vaccination appointment,” was more effective than a text that merely included a link to an online vaccination scheduling tool.
Now, Dai, Saccardo and Han, along with Sitaram Vangala, Juyea Hoo and Dr. Jeffrey Fujimoto at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, will publish fresh research that focuses on this potential schism between what people in a hypothetical scenario say they will do, and what people actually do.
The researchers texted more than 300,000 patients in the UCLA health system one of 14 messages that prior field tests, lab research or expert surveys suggested might encourage recipients to get the booster shot. A control group did not receive a text message.
The previously field-tested effective nudge of sending a text reminder that contained an appointment scheduling link compelled more patients to get a booster. Adding a note to play up the psychological sense of ownership (“claim your dose”) turned out to be more effective than if the reminder simply told patients the booster was available, as shown in Dai and Saccardo’s previous field test. All other nudges added on top of a text reminder, gleaned from research dependent on hypothetical scenarios or expert predictions, were ineffective in moving the needle.
“Given the importance of reproducibility to the field of behavioral science, numerous studies have focused on replication attempts of laboratory findings, but replications in the field have been infrequent. We take a stride in this direction by assessing the transferability of insights gained in one field context to another, and from hypothetical and prediction surveys to field settings,” said Dai.
Some messages leveraged the consistency principle in the form of “You have completed a COVID-19 vaccine primary series. Great job protecting your health.” One message was worded as an appeal explaining that the booster was different than the original vaccine and specifically designed to combat the most recent strain of COVID-19. Another cited the ongoing severity of the virus. Other messages reminded people that they could get the flu shot at the same time as the COVID-19 booster — a strategy used by pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens. The messages with additional content performed no better than simple text reminders.
Although the researchers note that their findings are limited to the field of COVID-19 booster vaccinations, they point out that their work raises questions about the efficacy of research built on hypotheticals or theoretical assumptions.
“While hypothetical surveys and self-reports are undoubtedly valuable for providing foundational evidence on the mechanisms of human behavior, our findings suggest that they may not always translate to complex real-world situations where various factors can affect behavior. It is critical to accumulate knowledge about the impact of interventions in the real world,” said Saccardo.
About UCLA Anderson School of Management
UCLA Anderson School of Management is a world-renowned learning and research institution. As part of the nation’s No. 1 public university, its mission is to advance management thinking and prepare transformative leaders to make positive business and societal impact. Located in Los Angeles, one of the nation’s most diverse and dynamic cities and the creative capital of the world, UCLA Anderson places more MBAs on the West Coast than any other business school, and its graduates also bring an innovative and inclusive West Coast sensibility to leading organizations across the U.S. and the world. Each year, UCLA Anderson’s MBA, Fully Employed MBA, Executive MBA, UCLA-NUS Executive MBA, Master of Financial Engineering, Master of Science in Business Analytics and doctoral programs educate more than 2,000 students, while the Executive Education program trains an additional 1,800 professionals. This next generation of transformative leaders will help shape the future of both business and society.