Preventative health measures can save tons of money (and lives), but it turns out it’s not so easy to convince people to be proactive – that is – unless it’s free.
Even flu shots and annual OB-GYN exams are designed to be inexpensive and easy to access, but even with very low prices, people tend to opt out, according to the “Health” chapter of the World Bank Group’s 2015 World Development Report.
Books like Nudge aimed to show how small policy tweaks can inspire people to make big changes. These changes have shown up in ways like changing the option from opting in to organ donation to choosing to opt out. Even labeling garbage cans with the word “landfill” instead of “trash.”
In looking at six different preventative health interventions across three countries, the authors homed in on one important factor that influences whether people will take steps to protect their health: Price. Specifically, whether the service is free, or nearly free, seems to make all the difference.
When prices fall toward zero, free may convey a social norm: We all should be doing this. Free allows people to experiment with a product when they are uncertain of its value, and free can have an affective influence (an individual is excited to have won the opportunity to get something free).
Even though these studies were put together using data from the developing world, it seems to be a pretty universal concept. If something costs something, anything at all, people are not only less likely to do/use it, they are less likely to trust it.
