How to Get People to Seize Opportunities at Work

Five concepts from behavioral economics that companies can deploy to improve the take-up rates of products and programs.

February 27, 2024

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People don’t always make use of opportunities and programs offered to them. Organizations can find ways to improve the take-up rates of products and programs by utilizing concepts from behavioral economics. These techniques have been used to convince more citizens to apply for tax benefits and more franchised hotels to use a new algorithmic pricing system, among other examples.

The oft-quoted line from the film Field of Dreams, “if you build it, [they] will come,” suggests a straightforward path between people and the things that are good for them. Present individuals with favorable opportunities, the theory goes, and they’ll seize them.

Julia Dhar is a managing director and partner in the Boston Consulting Group’s Boston office. She co-founded and leads BCG’s Behavioral Science Lab and is a Fellow at the BCG Henderson Institute focusing on the “science of change.”

Kristy Ellmer is a managing director and partner in the Boston Consulting Group’s Boston office. She leads BCG’s Transform Practice in North America and is the global leader for Culture, Change, and Leadership.

Lukas Ferner is a consultant in the Boston Consulting Group’s Munich Office, and an Ambassador at the BCG Henderson Institute.

Jason Guggenheim is a managing director and senior partner in the Boston Consulting Group’s Atlanta office. He leads BCG’s Travel, Transportation, Infrastructure, Cities & Logistics practice in North America.

Cass R. Sunstein is the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard and serves as founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School. From 2009 to 2012, he was the Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and he has held positions in the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. His books include Decisions About Decisions (Cambridge University Press, 2023) and How to Become Famous (Harvard Business Review Press, 2024). He is also the co-author of Nudge (Yale University Press, 2008; Penguin, 2009, 2021), Noise (William Collins, 2021), and Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There (Atria, 2024).

Sana Rafiq is a principal in in the Boston Consulting Group’s Washington DC Office. She leads BCG’s Behavioral Science Lab in North America.

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