How Do Habits Form? Experimental Evidence from Health Screenings / Damon Jones, David Molitor, Julian Reif.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jones, Damon.

Contributor:

Molitor, David.

Reif, Julian.

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w32745.

NBER working paper series no. w32745

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2024.

Summary:

We develop a framework for distinguishing between two competing mechanisms of habit formation and apply it to a three-year randomized experiment on annual health screenings among 4,799 university employees. Annually re-randomized incentives generate exogenous variation in early, late, and repeated screening, allowing us to test whether habits are strengthened by additional consumption or instead form discretely once consumption crosses a threshold. We find strong habit formation from initial exposure: completing a first screening raised subsequent screening rates by 32.4-36.1 percentage points (90%-111%). In contrast, completing a second screening had no detectable additional effect. Our results reject reinforcement models, including addiction, which predict repeated participation should strengthen the habit, and instead support a threshold model in which a single exposure is sufficient to establish and sustain the habit. Observational estimates imply the opposite conclusion, showing the value of rigorous research design in identifying mechanisms of habit formation.

Notes:

July 2024.

Print version record