Abstract
Although behavioral interventions are designed to seize attention, little consideration has been given to the costs of doing so. We estimated these costs in the context of a safety campaign that, to encourage safe driving, displays traffic fatality counts on highway dynamic message signs for 1 week each month. We found that crashes increase statewide during campaign weeks, which is inconsistent with any benefits. Furthermore, these effects do not persist beyond campaign weeks. Our results show that behavioral interventions, particularly negatively framed ones, can be too salient, crowding out more important considerations and causing interventions to backfire—with costly consequences.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | abm3427 |
| Journal | Science |
| Volume | 376 |
| Issue number | 6591 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 22 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This campaign is widely believed to be effective. For instance, in Illinois, the decision to start displaying fatality messages was unanimously supported by the Department of Transportation, the State Police, and the Department of Public Health (13). Many drivers also believe that fatality statistics make safety messages more effective (14, 15). Belief in the effectiveness of these messages is likely a factor in their rapid spread.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.
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