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Consumer Research Forum 2020: Algorithms and consumers
"Algorithms and Consumers: Focus Legal Tech" this is the current topic of the Consumer Research Forum 2020, which will take place completely virtually this year on September 18, 2020.
It is organized by CCMP Friedrichshafen, Prof. Hans-W. Micklitz (European University Institute) and Prof. Dr. Christian Thorun of ConPolicy – Institute for Consumer Policy Berlin. Our host is the Ministry of Rural Areas and Consumer Protection Baden-Württemberg.
A registration for this event is possible by mail to ccmp@zu.de. Please register by 15th of September 2020, so that we can prepare the program in a technically optimal way. You can find the program here.
Project for the European Parliament
New ConPolicy report on loot boxes in online games
At the request of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) of the European Parliament, ConPolicy carried out a study on lootboxes together with the project partner VVA. The aim of this study was to provide the Committee with an overview of lootboxes and other purchase systems in online games, to understand the impact of lootboxes on player behavior – with a special focus on young consumers - and to identify best practices and policy options. In this project ConPolicy conducted a literature analysis and expert interviews.
Behavioral public policy in practice
ConPolicy @ Summer School
ConPolicy Project Manager Dr. Annette Cerulli-Harms lectured about behavioral public policy in practice in the CEBEX SUMMER SCHOOL 2020 on Tuesday July 28. The summer school typically takes place in Prague but was moved online due to Covid-19. This allowed even more interested people from across the globe to participate. Practitioners, for example from government agencies and regulators, students, and PhD candidates from all areas of the world enthusiastically took part in the summer school.
Dr. Annette Cerulli-Harms discussed how politicians can and should base their decisions on the best available evidence including randomized controlled trials. During plenary sessions as well as through interactive case studies and group work the students learned how behavioral experiments and analyses are designed and conducted in practice. The session ended with an animated discussion of the ethical considerations policy makers should consider when designing behavioral interventions including so-called 'nudges'.
The summer school was hosted using an online communication platform which facilitated plenary sessions, group work, sharing of documents, interactive discussions on a virtual whiteboard.
This lecture was embedded into a rich four-day program on behavioral public policy. Other lecturers introduced students to the theoretical foundations of behavioral public policy including general concepts of behavioral sciences such as 'choice architecture' and 'rational' vs. 'irrational' behaviors of individuals and policy makers. Students were also introduced to experimental methods.
If you are interested in learning more about behavioral insights or in hosting an interactive online workshop, please get in touch.
Table talk hosted by the Dr. Rainer Wild Foundation
ConPolicy contributes to the exchange on food waste and consumer awareness
In Germany, thousands of tons of food end up in the garbage every year and private households contribute a large part to that. Against this background, the Dr. Rainer Wild Foundation investigated with the scientific model project "rescue refrigerator" how the appreciation for food among consumers can be increased and at the same time waste in food retailing can be reduced.
In the context of the 2nd digital table talk "Foodwaste – Consumer sensibility and opportunities at the point of sale" the project was presented in an impulse. Afterwards Marlene Münsch, as an expert of the panel discussion, discussed together with the participants consumers can be supported in their efforts to avoid food losses. The discussion also focused on the role that the retail sector can play and what information should be made available to consumers.
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