Nudging Demand for Academic Support Services: Experimental and Structural Evidence from Higher Education

Todd Pugatch and Nicholas Wilson

Journal of Human Resources, 2024, vol. 59, issue 5, 1637-1682

Abstract: We conducted an experiment designed to increase demand for academic support services among more than 2,100 students at a large U.S. public university. The intervention shifted student attention and increased service use, but also revealed behavioral biases. Structural estimates using the experimental variation suggest that transaction costs well in excess of plausible opportunity costs explain relatively low service use. Moreover, one†third of students are never attentive to student services. Message characteristics also matter. Several common nudging techniques—such as text messages, lottery†based economic incentives, and repeated messages—either had no effect or in some cases reduced the effectiveness of messaging.

JEL-codes: A22 D91 I23 M31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
Note: DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.0221-11474R2
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Related works:
Working Paper: Nudging Demand for Academic Support Services: Experimental and Structural Evidence from Higher Education (2020)
Working Paper: Nudging Demand for Academic Support Services: Experimental and Structural Evidence from Higher Education (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:59:y:2024:i:5:p:1637-1682

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