Can Behavioral Interventions Be Too Salient? Evidence from Traffic Safety Messages

Series

Micro Seminars
Speaker(s)

Jonathan Hall (University of Toronto, Canada)
Field

Spatial Economics

Location

Woudestein, Polak 2-18
Rotterdam
Date and time

October 15, 2021
15:30 - 16:30

While behavioral interventions are designed to seize attention, little consideration has been given to the costs of doing so. We estimate these costs in the context of a highway safety campaign that displays traffic fatality counts one week each month. We find that this intervention increases the number of crashes, with the effect dissipating over 7 km. The effects do not persist beyond the treated weeks. Crashes increase statewide during treated weeks, inconsistent with any benefits. Our results show that behavioral interventions can be too salient, crowding out more important considerations and causing interventions to backfire with costly consequences.

If you would like to meet with him for a bilateral before the seminar and/or would like to join for seminar diner, please send an email to dur@ese.eur.nl