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Accepted (AM)Open Access (License Unspecified), Open
Journal article
The limits of simple implementation intentions: Evidence from a field experiment on making plans to exercise
Journal of health economics, v 62
Nov 2018
PMID: 30336306
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Recent large-scale randomized experiments find that helping people form implementation intentions by asking when and where they plan to act increases one-time actions, such as vaccinations, preventative screenings and voting. We investigate the effect of a simple scalable planning intervention on a repeated behavior using a randomized design involving 877 subjects at a private gym. Subjects were randomized into i) a treatment group who selected the days and times they intended to attend the gym over the next two weeks or ii) a control group who instead recorded their days of exercise in the prior two weeks. In contrast to recent studies, we find that the planning intervention did not have a positive effect on behavior. We observe a tightly estimated null effect even though the majority of subjects believed that planning is helpful and despite clear evidence that they engaged with the planning process.
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Details
- Title
- The limits of simple implementation intentions: Evidence from a field experiment on making plans to exercise
- Creators
- Mariana Carrera - Case Western Reserve UniversityHeather Royer - University of California, Santa BarbaraMark Stehr - Drexel UniversityJustin Sydnor - University of Wisconsin–MadisonDmitry Taubinsky - University of California, Berkeley
- Publication Details
- Journal of health economics, v 62
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Economics (School of Economics); Center for Public Policy
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000453494000007
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85054821792
- Other Identifier
- 991019168900604721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Economics
- Health Care Sciences & Services
- Health Policy & Services