Vaccine Innovations using Behavioral Economics and Science: First edition

Category: Storytelling | Project Type: AI

Even behavioral scientists sometimes forget to apply our own insights.

Conferences are often filled with presentations about human biases and decision-making. Yet, their own formats rarely reflect those lessons — the shoemaker’s children go barefoot, as the saying goes.

At VIBES, the Gates Foundation’s behavioral science + immunization convening, we tried to do things differently. Instead of only talking about behavioral principles, we designed activities that let participants experience them:

• 👥 Social conformity: When a beep sounded every 30 seconds, 90% of participants stood up — and soon, nearly everyone followed. Yes, it was inspired by this video.
• 🍬 Friction costs: Two jars of M&Ms, one with the lid off and one closed. The open jar emptied first — effort matters.
• 🍿 Social norms signaling: Two identical bowls of popcorn, but one labeled “crowd favorite.” That bowl disappeared the fastest.

These small demonstrations weren’t just a lot of fun (they were!), but they also showed how context, cues, and design choices influence behavior, even when we think we’re immune to them.