Healthier by Precommitment: A Behavioral Economics Experiment in South Africa

Featuring
Janet Schwartz
Assistant Professor
Tulane University

In this seminar, Janet Schwartz will discuss a voluntary self-control commitment device aimed to help individuals make healthy food decisions in South Africa. Participants, who were enrolled in a large-scale incentive program that discounts the price of eligible groceries, were offered the chance to put their discount on the line. Agreeing households pledged that they would increase their purchases of healthy food to receive their discount; otherwise, it was forfeited for that month. Study results suggest that consumers will seize opportunities to create restrictive choice environments for themselves despite some risk of financial loss.