MBDS student group uses behavioral science to develop BETR solutions

The Behavioral Economics Theory and Research (BETR) Collective is an emerging student group focused on applying behavioral insights to create community impact

Whether you work with clients, customers, patients, or students, you’ve likely heard of behavioral science—or wondered how it can improve outcomes in your field. The Behavioral Economics Theory and Research (BETR) Collective, an emerging student group focused on applying behavioral insights to create community impact, wants to help Philadelphia area students and organizations find answers. “The behavioral science toolkit is great for problem-solving across industries,” remarks Ravenn Triplett (MBDS `23), one of the co-founders of BETR Collective. "This organization is designed to benefit everyone involved. Students are looking for opportunities to leverage their expertise and organizations have problems that traditional methods won't solve. We think there's incredible potential to be found in connecting these populations."

The seed for BETR Collective was planted in spring 2022 when the Master of Behavioral and Decision Sciences program was approached by Andrew Parambath, a Perelman School of Medicine student interested in starting a behavioral economics club. The idea attracted students from across Penn's campus, including the MBDS and Wharton programs. These early-joiners put their heads together to design an ambitious behavioral science club that would produce real learning and impact, with Ravenn and co-founder Anna Lamb '22 taking the reins in fall 2022. One of their top priorities is welcoming undergraduate and graduate student members from across the University of Pennsylvania—not only students enrolled in the MBDS. The hope is that connecting students across fields will innovate how behavioral science is used and where it’s used to everyone’s benefit. "This is a strategic decision aimed at democratizing and diversifying the behavioral science toolkit beyond the wealthiest backgrounds and industries," says Ravenn. “Behavioral science is supposed to be intersectional and interdisciplinary. Recruiting from every type of community is key if we want to push the envelope and maximize our impact down the line.”

As of spring 2023, there are two arms of the BETR Collective—consulting and events—in service of their mission. “We wanted to honor that people outside the program really wanted to learn about behavioral science and have access to this knowledge and resources. We also wanted MBDS students to get more hands-on experience,” says Ravenn. “Beyond that, we wanted to make sure that, as Penn students, we were being respectful of the community and diverting resources back into Philadelphia.”

Connecting with local organizations to create change

Consulting is a natural application of behavioral science: many faculty members have consulting experience and can offer guidance and advice, and MBDS students can even take an elective to practice working with clients outside of Penn on real projects. Students find that the first step of consulting is often educational—that is, talking to organizations about what behavioral science can and cannot offer. “That’s something we face with basically every client,” says Ravenn. “They don’t know what behavioral science is or what it does, but they’re interested in learning more and hope it can help improve their outcomes somehow.”

The next step is to learn as much as possible about the organization and challenge at hand. “Context is everything. Messing up this step is often why a behavioral intervention goes awry. There’s no copy and paste in this kind of work,” explains Ravenn. From there, students would brainstorm paths forward for interrupting and changing the target behavior. “The fun part is when you’ve honed down to a key behavior and start ideating on behavioral drivers and levers to target, ideally with an opportunity to test your hypothesis through a pilot or beta test,” says David Langner (MBDS `23), who co-chairs the consulting arm with Palashi Singhal (MBDS `23). Depending on the situation, a BETR Collective consultant can leverage a range of research and analytical skills as well as behavioral insights: market research, A/B testing, statistical surveys, data evaluation, an understanding of cognitive biases, or other tools specific to the organization’s objective.

Drawing on their own consulting experiences as well as insights from faculty practitioners, BETR Collective plans to connect its members with local businesses, nonprofits, and community organizations. “I am excited to connect to students with new practical experiences—and a chance to apply the experience we already have to help advise and teach organizations in the community,” David notes. “It’s an opportunity to reach out immediately, right across the city, and plug value into an organization or business, from a call to action to the way a service or product is designed and delivered.”

Launching the first Nudgeathon in North America

“A Nudgeathon is a behavioral science case competition,” explains Corey Furdock (MBDS `23), who co-chairs BETR Collective’s events arm with Ravenn. Nudges are shorthand for behavioral science interventions designed to influence decision-making by adjusting the choice architecture of an environment: for example, a store's music choice can impact shopping speed, and where food is placed in a room can affect how much people eat. “Sometimes one small thing changes how people feel or interact with a space,” says Ravenn. “Of course, there are ways to create long-lasting change, but it’s also great to encourage healthy behaviors in a quick way.”

Along those lines, a Nudgeathon challenges participants to learn about a community problem and then brainstorm viable interventions in a short time frame. For their upcoming competition, the BETR Collective envisions a two-day event including behavioral science workshops for all levels and featuring experts and local community partners; the teams will be made up of undergraduate and graduate students from various universities and academic specialties. “There’s no required expertise in behavioral science,” says Corey. “The Nudgeathon will be a comprehensive learning workshop followed by putting those insights and learnings toward a proposal.”

BETR Collective has partnered with the Pennsylvania Public Health Association (PPHA) to develop a case brief focused on a health challenge specific to West Philadelphia: improving health-seeking behaviors and establishing greater trust between the medical community and the neighborhood. Proposals to nudge community residents toward improved primary care attendance will be reviewed by an expert panel of judges, with the winning proposal earning a cash prize—and potentially the opportunity to see their plan put into action. “We’re hoping that the winning team will have the ability to work with PHPA and PMC to actually implement their proposal,” says Corey.

The partnership with PPHA also calls back to the BETR Collective’s origins as a collaboration between medicine and behavioral science. “There are certain industries that really resonate with behavioral science and work nicely with the tools in our kit. Healthcare is one of those industries,” reflects Ravenn. For David, healthcare offers complex challenges which require multi-prong solutions that incorporate short- and long-term impacts as well as individual and structural changes. "While there are excellent opportunities to change individual behaviors of patients and practitioners in healthcare, it's essential to address policy- and system-level issues in order to prevent those problematic contexts and counter-productive incentives in the first place. Behavioral science offers insights in both of these conversations."

Complex problems also benefit from interdisciplinary solutions, and the BETR Collective expects the Nudgeathon to attract participants from diverse professional and academic backgrounds, possibly including students with expertise in health science and medicine, public policy and public health, and user-based design or engineering. “Part of the mission is to empower and educate those who haven’t been exposed to behavioral science as a field,” adds Corey. “We’re looking to get behavioral insights into the hands of as many people as possible.”

Looking toward a BETR future

The Master of Behavioral and Decision Sciences is a one-year program at a full-time pace—and even for the BETR Collective’s part-time students, that time goes by fast. The group is already preparing to hand off their work to the next cohort of behavioral science students—and curious students from across Penn. “We are focusing on getting more projects in hand so that we have something to pass on to the next batch and tangible results to show them,” says Palashi. “We’re in that start-up phase of the organization,” explains Ravenn. “We have to work hard and be intentional so that people want to keep us around.”

Students interested in joining BETR Collective can contact betrcollective@gmail.com. The upcoming Nudgeathon will take place March 24-26; to learn more or to participate, visit the Philly Nudgeathon Application Form. Teams will be assigned in March.

External organizations who would benefit from behavioral insights and want to offer opportunities for behavioral scientists, visit the MBDS Industry Affiliates page.