Stay Informed!

Posted on 09/08/2010 @ 01:00 PM

Tags: Behavioral Economics

Mindy Hernandez, Founder, One Decision

I’ve actually never been to CFED’s Assets Learning Conference before but I’ve heard great things. I’m especially intrigued by the following:

• This quote from the Huffington Post from Jonathan Lewis: “For an imminent Category Three event, check out the 2010 Corporation for Enterprise Development Assets Learning Conference in Washington, DC, in September. I know, I know...the name is not exactly a heart-pounder, but the content will make your blood race.” Racing blood sounds exciting!
• Speed dating for researchers and practitioners! How often do you get to date at a conference?
• The first-ever Innovation Marketplace where social innovators will present their ideas for expanding economic opportunity. I’m especially intrigued by Blair Benjamin and his work with Assets for Artists and Rimmy Malhotra and his work with Affordable Mutual Fund Investing.
• Crystal Hall, who was a guest blogger here, will be presenting on Behavioral Economics 101: Decision Making in the Context of Poverty. She is a great speaker so I’m excited to see her presentation.

I will also be presenting on my projects during the CFED Residency as well as some previous work supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. I’m looking forward to sharing some exciting initial findings. I’ll be discussing the research in detail at the Conference, but until then, here is a sneak peek of some early lessons:

Timing Matters: People seem to be more open to some opportunities at very particular moments in time. Designing outreach efforts to coincide with these unique and opportune moments seems to increase interest and enrollment in opportunities like financial management classes. Specifically, after receiving a tax refund, people may feel a relief from their usual efforts to make ends meet and have more mental bandwidth to take up new opportunities.

Reminders Help: Small, well-placed reminders like post cards and letters written in the person’s own handwriting seem to help people follow through on their intentions to enroll in a class or prepare for their tax appointments.

Simplification is Key: Simplifying forms and letters seems to increase people’s ability to follow through on intentions like keeping their debt counseling appointments and dedicating part of their paycheck to savings.

Small Cash Prizes Can Have a Big Impact: Well-designed cash prizes seem to increase people’s participation in automatic savings and can be cost-effective.

These are exciting preliminary findings, but we recognize that more research is needed before we can fully understand the impact of these interventions. The only way to know if these findings can be replicated in new and different contexts is for more practitioners to join our research efforts and attempt to replicate them and learn. Come to my session at the Assets Learning Conference to find out more about how you can implement studies in your organization. If you are ready to start exploring an applied research partnership at the ALC, then sign up for Speed Dating for Researchers and Practitioners.

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