Boosting Savings Deposits with Behavioral Science Nudges

BCFG’s latest megastudy, published in PNAS Nexus, found that behavioral science-based email nudges can slightly increase people’s likelihood of making a monthly savings deposit. Led by BCFG Co-Director Katy Milkman, this megastudy sent savings reminders to nearly two million customers of a large U.S. bank.

What did the megastudy test?

Over two months, we tested seven different email interventions designed to encourage customers to transfer money into their savings accounts. Some interventions aimed to reach customers at key moments—such as right after a checking account deposit or at the start or end of the month. Others sent weekly reminders to save, with messages adjusted to congratulate savings if the customer had already made a savings deposit that week.

What were the key takeaways from the research?

1. Reminders effectively encouraged people to make more monthly savings deposits.

2. Our top-performing intervention sent weekly reminders to customers who had not yet made a savings deposit and congratulatory messages to those who had already saved that week. This intervention increased customers’ likelihood of making a one-time savings deposit each month by 1.32%.

3. Our findings show that even incredibly light touch interventions informed by behavioral science can change behavior. To produce a bigger benefit, ideally interventions would be delivered via more channels than email.

Earlier this month, BCFG Co-Director Katy Milkman interviewed Team Scientist and Penn Professor Emily Falk about her new book What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice and Change. The conversation covered topics such as why making goals fun can boost motivation, when being in sync with others is beneficial and when it can limit creativity, as well as how learning about the brain can help people better align their choices with what they truly value.

Congratulations to BCFG Co-Director Angela Duckworth for being selected to join the Society for Personality and Social Psychology’s distinguished Heritage Wall. This is an honor that recognizes an elite group of psychologists who have left a lasting mark on their field. We’re thrilled to see Angela’s impact recognized in this way.

Get Your Tickets: Following the 2 pm showing of “This Much I Know,” a play inspired by the book Thinking, Fast and Slow by Nobel Laureate Danny Kahneman, Katy Milkman will join Director Hayley Finn onstage at 59E59 Theaters for a Q&A about behavioral science and its role in the show.

1. Teamwork That Works: What Great Teams Have in Common, hosted by Co-Director Katy Milkman, Choiceology

2. Winning the Battle Against Yourself, featuring Team Scientist Emily Falk, Hidden Brain

3. Here’s What Happened When I Made My College Students Put Away Their Phones, essay by Team Scientist Ezekiel Emanuel, The New York Times

Don’t forget to follow us on social media, where we share new research, job postings, and more: LinkedIn / X / Facebook / BlueSky

Donate