MESOP WATCH NEW : HOW CREATE POLICY MAKERS  HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN PANDEMIC TIMES

2021 Dec;600(7889):478-483.  doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04128-4. Epub 2021 Dec 8. Megastudies improve the impact of applied behavioural science

Katherine L Milkman  ¹ , Dena Gromet  ² , Hung Ho  ^{3   4} , Joseph S Kay  ² , Timothy W Lee  ^{2   5} , Pepi Pandiloski  ⁶ , Yeji Park  ⁷ , Aneesh Rai  ³ , Max Bazerman  ⁸ , John Beshears  ⁸ , Lauri Bonacorsi  ⁹ , Colin Camerer  ¹⁰ , Edward Chang  ⁸ , Gretchen Chapman  ¹¹ , Robert Cialdini  ¹² , Hengchen Dai  ¹³ , Lauren Eskreis-Winkler  ¹⁴ , Ayelet Fishbach  ¹⁴ , James J Gross  ¹⁵ , Samantha Horn  ¹¹ , Alexa Hubbard  ¹⁶ , Steven J Jones  ¹⁷ , Dean Karlan  ¹⁸ , Tim Kautz  ¹⁹ , Erika Kirgios  ³ , Joowon Klusowski  ²⁰ , Ariella Kristal  ²¹ , Rahul Ladhania  ²² , George Loewenstein  ¹¹ , Jens Ludwig  ⁶ , Barbara Mellers  ²⁰ , Sendhil Mullainathan  ¹⁴ , Silvia Saccardo  ¹¹ , Jann Spiess  ²³ , Gaurav Suri  ²⁴ , Joachim H Talloen  ¹¹ , Jamie Taxer  ¹⁵ , Yaacov Trope  ¹⁶ , Lyle Ungar  ²⁵ , Kevin G Volpp  ²⁶ , Ashley Whillans  ⁸ , Jonathan Zinman  ²⁷ , Angela L Duckworth  ^{28   29}

Affiliations

• PMID: 34880497
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04128-4

Abstract

Policy-makers are increasingly turning to behavioural science for insights about how to improve citizens’ decisions and outcomes¹. Typically, different scientists test different intervention ideas in different samples using different outcomes over different time intervals². The lack of comparability of such individual investigations limits their potential to inform policy. Here, to address this limitation and accelerate the pace of discovery, we introduce the megastudy-a massive field experiment in which the effects of many different interventions are compared in the same population on the same objectively measured outcome for the same duration. In a megastudy targeting physical exercise among 61,293 members of an American fitness chain, 30 scientists from 15 different US universities worked in small independent teams to design a total of 54 different four-week digital programmes (or interventions) encouraging exercise. We show that 45% of these interventions significantly increased weekly gym visits by 9% to 27%; the top-performing intervention offered microrewards for returning to the gym after a missed workout. Only 8% of interventions induced behaviour change that was significant and measurable after the four-week intervention. Conditioning on the 45% of interventions that increased exercise during the intervention, we detected carry-over effects that were proportionally similar to those measured in previous research^3-6. Forecasts by impartial judges failed to predict which interventions would be most effective, underscoring the value of testing many ideas at once and, therefore, the potential for megastudies to improve the evidentiary value of behavioural science.

© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

Similar articles

• Suicidal Ideation.

Harmer B, Lee S, Duong TVH, Saadabadi A. 2021 Aug 6. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan–. PMID: 33351435 Free Books & Documents. Review.

• Strategies to improve the implementation of workplace-based policies or practices targeting tobacco, alcohol, diet, physical activity and obesity.

Wolfenden L, Goldman S, Stacey FG, Grady A, Kingsland M, Williams CM, Wiggers J, Milat A, Rissel C, Bauman A, Farrell MM, Légaré F, Ben Charif A, Zomahoun HTV, Hodder RK, Jones J, Booth D, Parmenter B, Regan T, Yoong SL. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Nov 14;11(11):CD012439. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD012439.pub2. PMID: 30480770 Free PMC article.

• Behavioural modification interventions for medically unexplained symptoms in primary care: systematic reviews and economic evaluation.

Leaviss J, Davis S, Ren S, Hamilton J, Scope A, Booth A, Sutton A, Parry G, Buszewicz M, Moss-Morris R, White P. Health Technol Assess. 2020 Sep;24(46):1-490. doi: 10.3310/hta24460. PMID: 32975190 Free PMC article.

• Targeted mass media interventions promoting healthy behaviours to reduce risk of non-communicable diseases in adult, ethnic minorities.

Mosdøl A, Lidal IB, Straumann GH, Vist GE. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 Feb 17;2(2):CD011683. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011683.pub2. PMID: 28211056 Free PMC article. Review.

• Interventions for promoting habitual exercise in people living with and beyond cancer.

Bourke L, Homer KE, Thaha MA, Steed L, Rosario DJ, Robb KA, Saxton JM, Taylor SJ. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Sep 24;(9):CD010192. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD010192.pub2. PMID: 24065550 Updated. Review.

See all similar articles

References

1. 1. Behavioural Insights and Public Policy: Lessons from Around the World (OECD Publishing, 2017).

1. 1. Benartzi, S. et al. Should governments invest more in nudging? Psychol. Sci. 28, 1041–1055 (2017). – DOI

1. 1. Charness, G. & Gneezy, U. Incentives to EXercise. Econometrica 77, 909–931 (2009). – DOI

1. 1. Acland, D. & Levy, M. R. Naiveté, projection bias, and habit formation in gym attendance. Manage. Sci. 61, 146–160 (2015). – DOI

1. 1. Royer, H., Stehr, M. & Sydnor, J. Incentives, commitments, and habit formation in exercise: evidence from a field experiment with workers at a Fortune-500 company. Am. Econ. J. Appl. Econ. 7, 51–84 (2015). – DOI