Reducing student spending by using behavioural insights: the SAVINGS Trial informed by a qualitative study

Abstract

Abstract Households are currently struggling to keep up financial obligations with limited funds held away in savings account, however, the impact of interventions, such as financial education have demonstrated mixed efficacy. This study examines how behavioural interventions can produce substantial outcomes when using a holistic perspective of behaviour and cognition. We recruit a representative sample to participate in ethnographic interviews which we used to build two interventions, a Goal-setting intervention and a Habit-based intervention. We evaluated these interventions against a control group in a 12-week randomised controlled trial. We collected transactional data, presenting both monetary consumption and account balance activity. The Goal-setting intervention demonstrated significant improvements in both outcome measures, with reductions in monetary consumption and account balance. The Habit-based intervention did not demonstrate any treatment effects. We demonstrate how behavioural interventions can provide cost-effective solutions to increase saving propensity using promoting financial goals and action planning.