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Certificate of Achievement
has completed the following course:
Introduction to Behavioural Economics: Employee and Customer Behaviour
This course used ideas from behavioural economics to understand how choices are made and how we might improve them for the benefit of individuals, organisations, and society. Topics covered included: The relationship between financial incentives and prosocial motives; How to use commitment pledges to change behaviour; The widespread presence of defaults and the role of inertia in much of decision-making; The role of ethics in nudging.
3 weeks, 2 hours per week
Paul Dolan
Professor of Behavioural Science
FutureLearn
Transcript
Learning outcomes
- Discuss the use of different types of incentives and how well they can effect behaviour change.
- Examine the role of reference points and mental accounting in conditioning the response to incentives.
- Differentiate between incentives which have risk and/or time components and those which don’t, and think about how to use both.
- Explore the relationship between financial incentives and pro-social motives.
- Consider the widespread presence of defaults and the role of inertia in much of their (and others’) decision-making.
- Discuss ways to improve default options based on key learnings in behavioural science.
- Discuss the role of ethics in nudging, with special reference to the case of defaults.
Syllabus
- Incentives and how they can affect behaviour change.
- Defaults, the pre-selected options available if an individual does not make an active choice.
- How commitment pledges can change behaviour in a professional setting.
- Different types of commitments and their appropriateness.
Issued on 28th September 2025
The person named on this certificate has completed the activities in the transcript above. For more information about Certificates of Achievement and the effort required to become eligible, visit futurelearn.com/proof-of-learning/certificate-of-achievement.
This certificate represents proof of learning. It is not a formal qualification, degree, or part of a degree.
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