UX experiments / Persuasion
Persuasion · Randomized trial · letters
Which tax reminder letter got more people to pay?
Reminder letter to people who hadn't paid tax. Which letter got more people to pay?
Make your call. Which version won, and why? Decide before you open the result. Guessing first is what trains your judgment.
Made your call? See the result
83% paid with the local norm, vs 67.5% with the standard letter.
What happened
A national version (“most people in the UK”) reached 72.5%. Postcode level reached 79%. The closer the comparison group, the stronger the effect.
Why it worked
Behavior feels normal when people like you already do it. Specific beats generic.
The takeaway
Make social proof local and specific to the person reading.
Source
- Policy Options · Making inroads (policyoptions.irpp.org)
More experiments to call
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