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

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Human Resources
Year: 2024
Volume: 59
Issue: 5

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

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.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:uwp:jhriss:v:59:y:2024:i:5:p:1637-1682
Journal Field
Labor
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29