Nudges at the Dentist

Steffen Altmann and Christian Traxler

No 6699, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We implement a randomized field experiment to study the impact of reminders on dental health prevention. Patients who are due for a check-up receive no reminder, a neutral reminder postcard, or reminders including additional information on the benefits of prevention. Our results document a strong impact of reminders. Within one month after receiving a reminder, the fraction of patients who make a check-up appointment more than doubles. The effect declines slightly over time, but remains economically and statistically significant. Including additional information in the reminders does not increase response rates. In fact, the neutral reminder has the strongest impact for the overall population as well as for important subgroups of patients. Finally, we document that being exposed to reminders repeatedly does neither strengthen nor weaken their effectiveness.

Keywords: prevention; dental health; field experiment; nudges; reminders; memory limitations; framing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D03 I11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2012-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-exp and nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published - revised version published in: European Economic Review, 2014, 72, 19-38

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Related works:
Journal Article: Nudges at the dentist (2014)
Working Paper: Nudges at the Dentist (2012)
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