Invited Talks by Verena Tiefenbeck and Daniel Schnurr at the University of Cambridge
On November 6, 2025, Verena Tiefenbeck and project partner Prof. Dr. Daniel Schnurr (University of Regensburg) were invited to speak at the Behavioural Roundtable series of the El-Erian Institute of Behavioural Economics and Policy (Cambridge Judge Business School). The session, hosted by Prof. Dr. Lucia Reisch and moderated by Dr. Malte Dewies from the University of Cambridge, drew a large audience.
Under the title “Shaping Policy with Experiments on Behaviour Change Over Time: Designing Behavioural Interventions and Policies that Stick,” the speakers discussed how behavioural experiments can inform the design of effective and durable public policies.
Drawing on their research, the talks explored two key themes:
• Real-time feedback and habit change: How making resource consumption visible—and emotionally engaging—during everyday activities such as showering can trigger lasting behavioural change and significantly reduce energy use.
• Monetary incentives and digital public goods: How financial rewards influence the adoption and sustained use of contact-tracing apps during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what these insights mean for digital public goods in the long run.