CONSUMER RESEARCH NETWORK Policymakers Academics and Practitioners CONSUMER

CONSUMER RESEARCH NETWORK Policymakers, Academics, and Practitioners

CONSUMER RESEARCH NETOWRK September 30 Toronto, Ontario 2009 SENATE CREDIT CARD STUDY: POLICYMAKING PERSPECTIVE • Problem: – No understanding of payments system • Result? – Initial focus on financial literacy • Eventually. . . – Focus shifts to real issue: interchange fees

Credit Union Government Relations Forum November 14 & 15 Ottawa, Ontario CREDIT UNION CENTRAL OF CANADA: PRACTITIONER PERSPECTIVE • Modest Research budget/Staff – Partnered with research institute – Formed research advisory council – Publish in-house research by subject experts • Example: reviewed 67+ Fin. Lit programs through filter derived from research

Credit Union Government Relations Forum November 14 & 15 Ottawa, Ontario No Nudge Soft Nudge with Incentives Hard Nudge • Strong self control • Motivation key to • Hyper rational change literate • Feedback loops • Ideal decision crucial environment • Framing also key • Feedback needs to • No will power include financial • Low literacy, incentives numeracy • Frequent decision Errors POLICY OUTCOME • Information provision POLICY OUTCOME • Matched-savings POLICY OUTCOME • Opt-in programs, better framing POLICY OUTCOME • Opt-out, CPP

Credit Union Government Relations Forum November 14 & 15 Ottawa, Ontario FINLIT GAPS : SOME UNANSWERED QUESTIONS • Does financial education really change behavior? Are consumers as heroic as policy assumes? • What is the decay/knowledge retention rate? • Can we keep FL knowledge ‘alive’? How?

Credit Union Government Relations Forum November 14 & 15 Ottawa, Ontario FINLIT GAPS : A FUTURE RESEARCH AGENDA? • More and better longitudinal studies (controls) • Explicit behavioural framing • Anthropological /ethnographic research

Credit Union Government Relations Forum November 14 & 15 Ottawa, Ontario TAKE AWAY: POLICYMAKERS • Tap into research networks • Write in compelling way for policymakers • Draw on popularizations of academic work

Credit Union Government Relations Forum November 14 & 15 Ottawa, Ontario TAKE AWAY: ACADEMICS • • Build networks, identify strong communicators Engage with policymaking community Set up conferences, build habitual interactions Popularize research; strip out jargon

Credit Union Government Relations Forum November 14 & 15 Ottawa, Ontario TAKE AWAY: PRACTITIONERS • Form partnerships, develop internal capacities • Use academic databases to brief up, identify key people • Target bureaucracy with detailed research • Target politicians with popular forms

CONSUMER RESEARCH NETWORK THANK YOU!