Adapting Interventions to Culture Can Improve Effectiveness and Cost-Efficiency

The last few decades have seen ambitious new mega-studies testing ways to change people's behavior for good. Studies with thousands of participants have tested the effectiveness of financial incentives and psychological nudges to encourage people to get vaccinated, go to the gym, and work harder. The emerging theme across these studies is that money tends to work better than nudges. Yet most of this research has been done in Western cultures. This paper reviews studies testing interventions outside of the West. Those studies often find that the power of money is smaller, with psychological nudges sometimes more cost-efficient than financial incentives. What's more, the messages that come with interventions tend to be more effective outside of Western cultures if they emphasize interdependence and connection to other people. In sum, new evidence is suggesting policymakers should be careful about exporting the lessons from mega-studies done in the West to cultures outside the West (and even groups within Western countries with different cultural norms, such as middle class versus working class Americans). Instead, new studies are pointing to ways to deliver interventions more effectively in non-Western cultures.