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Clearer consequences: Helping people understand the outcomes of bankruptcy

General Information

Project description

BETA partnered with AFSA on two projects to determine how to best communicate about the consequences of bankruptcy.

In the first project, over 6,500 Australians completed one of six educational tools online that explain the consequences of bankruptcy and then assessed their levels of understanding. A pop-quiz and video were most effective, improving people’s understanding by 27 percentage points above the group that saw no educational tool.

In the second project, we introduced five additional prompts into the online bankruptcy application form. For the most part, including the prompts did not influence applicants’ reporting. We also found the best time to inform people about the consequences of bankruptcy is likely to be before they attempt the application form.

Detailed information

Final report: Is there a final report presenting the results and conclusions of this project?

Yes

Final report

Who is behind the project?

Institution: Prime Minister and Cabinet (PMC)
Team: Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA)

Project status:

Completed

Methods

Methodology: Field Experiment, Online Experiment
Could you self-grade the strength of the evidence generated by this study?: 7

What is the project about?

Policy area(s): Finance
Topic(s): Decision-making, Financial Aids

Date published:

23 November 2021

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