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Nudges at the Dentist

Author Info

  • Altmann, Steffen

    ()

    (University of Copenhagen)

  • Traxler, Christian

    ()

    (Hertie School of Governance)

Abstract

We implement a randomized field experiment to study the impact of reminders on dental health prevention. Patients who are due for a check-up receive no reminder, a neutral reminder postcard, or reminders including additional information on the benefits of prevention. Our results document a strong impact of reminders. Within one month after receiving a reminder, the fraction of patients who make a check-up appointment more than doubles. The effect declines slightly over time, but remains economically and statistically significant. Including additional information in the reminders does not increase response rates. In fact, the neutral reminder has the strongest impact for the overall population as well as for important subgroups of patients. Finally, we document that being exposed to reminders repeatedly does neither strengthen nor weaken their effectiveness.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 6699.

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Length: 32 pages
Date of creation: Jul 2012
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6699
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Keywords: prevention; dental health; field experiment; nudges; reminders; memory limitations; framing;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
  • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
  • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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Blog mentions

As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
  1. The power of check-up reminders
    by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2012-08-06 13:47:00
  2. Weekly Roundup 186: A Curated Linkfest For The Smartest People On The Web!
    by Miguel in Simoleon Sense on 2012-09-16 04:29:18
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
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Cited by:

  1. Simeon Schudy & Verena Utikal, 2015. "Does imperfect data privacy stop people from collecting personal health data?," TWI Research Paper Series 98, Thurgauer Wirtschaftsinstitut, Universit�t Konstanz.
  2. Bronchetti, Erin Todd & Huffman, David B. & Magenheim, Ellen, 2015. "Attention, intentions, and follow-through in preventive health behavior: Field experimental evidence on flu vaccination," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 270-291.
  3. van Landeghem, Bert & Cörvers, Frank & de Grip, Andries, 2016. "Is There a Rationale to Contact the Unemployed Right from the Start? Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 9627, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  4. Trier Damgaard, Mette & Gravert, Christina, 2016. "The hidden costs of nudging: Experimental evidence from reminders in fundraising," Working Papers in Economics 650, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
  5. Huber, Martin & Kotevska, Ana & Martinovska-Stojcheska, A. & Solovyeva, Anna, 2016. "Evaluating an information campaign about rural development policies in (FYR) Macedonia," FSES Working Papers 469, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Freiburg/Fribourg Switzerland.
  6. Keith M Marzilli Ericson, 2014. "On the Interaction of Memory and Procrastination: Implications for Reminders," NBER Working Papers 20381, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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