Low Take-up Rates: The Role of Information

This paper exploits a quasi-natural experiment to study the role of information in determining take-up patterns of social benefits in a non-stigma environment. We find that take-up rate of households who have the incentive to search for information for a longer period of time is between 8 and 13 percentage points higher as compared to a control group of households. This result is robust to the inclusion of various household characteristics. Our finding provides strong empirical support for information as an important explanation for low take-up rates.take-up, social benefits, information cost

The Effect of Benefits Level on Take-up Rates: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

This paper exploits a quasi-natural experiment to study the effect of social benefits level on take-up rates. We find that households who are eligible for double benefits (twins) have much higher take-up rate - up to double - as compared to a control group of households. Our estimated effect of benefits level is much higher relative to the standard cross section estimates. This finding is less exposed to a selection bias that might plague much of the previous research on the link between benefits level and take-up. It provides strong empirical support for the level of benefits as a key factor in determining take-up rates.take-up, social benefits

The role of information

This paper exploits a quasi-natural experiment to study the role of information in determining take-up patterns of social benefits in a non-stigma environment. We find that take-up rate of households who have the incentive to search for information for a longer period of time is between 8 and 13 percentage points higher as compared to a control group of households. This result is robust to the inclusion of various household characteristics. Our finding provides strong empirical support for information as an important explanation for low take-up rates

The effect of benefits level on take-up rates: evidence from a natural experiment

This paper exploits a quasi-natural experiment to study the effect of social benefits level on take-up rates. We find that households who are eligible for double benefits (twins) have much higher take-up rate - up to double - as compared to a control group of households. Our estimated effect of benefits level is much higher relative to the standard cross section estimates. This finding is less exposed to a selection bias that might plague much of the previous research on the link between benefits level and take-up. It provides strong empirical support for the level of benefits as a key factor in determining take-up rates

Demarketing, minorities, and national attachment

This study addresses two important global trends: protection of public goods, specifically the environment, and the emergence of multiethnic societies with influential minority groups. The study tests the effect of a government proenvironmental demarketing campaign on the deconsumption behavior of minority groups and the majority population. It suggests that minority consumers use consumption or deconsumption to manifest their social identity, beliefs, and goals as minorities in relation to the majority and that their motivation to respond positively to a government's demarketing campaign is shaped by their national attachment levels. The study was conducted in Jerusalem, Israel, and involved a large data set (N = 66,272) containing household-level data on actual behavior of consumers. The studied groups involved the majority of non-ultra-Orthodox Jews and three minority groups: Israeli Arabs, ultra-Orthodox Jews, and Jewish Russian immigrants. The findings show that in a proenvironmental context, government demarketing is more effective on the majority group than on any of the three minority groups. In addition, minority groups with lower national attachment levels respond more negatively to the demarketing effort. However, higher education levels lead to a more positive response across the majority and minority groups. A central implication of the findings is related to the benefits derived from demarketing for different consumer groups (majorities versus minorities based on religion, ethnicity, and immigration status). The findings also provide a benchmark for demarketing efforts in an environmental context. Finally, they suggest that policy makers and marketers should consider using demarketing more to complement regulatory and economic tools

Still waters run deep:Comparing assertive and suggestive language in water conservation campaigns

The current work focuses on non-price policies to achieve residential water conservation, specifically on water conservation campaigns. The authors report the results of a large-scale longitudinal field experiment encouraging residential water conservation among 1500 households. The effectiveness of two commonly-used message phrasings is compared: an assertive and a suggestive message. Assertive messages employ a commanding tone, such as “You must conserve water”, whereas suggestive messages employ a more gentle approach, as in “Please consider conserving water”. Despite the ubiquitous use of assertive phrasing in pro-social messages, and previous research that suggests that, in some cases, assertive language can increase message compliance, the authors show here that the suggestive, gentler, message language can make a more accentuated change in residential water conservation behavior. This may stem from the status of water as a basic needs resource, which may reduce the appropriateness of freedom restricting language, such as an assertive tone

Explaining Non-Take-up of Water Subsidy

We use two separate quasi-natural experiments to explore the relative importance of information and administrative costs in explaining non-take-up of water subsidy. The first “experiment” shows that the take-up rate of a household with lower administrative costs is not significantly different from otherwise identical households. In contrast, using the same program, the second “experiment” reveals that the take-up rate of a household that is more likely to be informed is substantially higher compared to otherwise identical households. These findings support the idea that information plays a major role in explaining non-take-up of water subsidy

The effect of benefits level on take-up rates: evidence from a natural experiment

Take-up, Social benefits, I38,