A behavioral unit (also called a nudge unit or behavioral insights team) is a specialized team within an organization that applies principles from behavioral economics to understand and influence human decision-making and behavior. Unlike traditional economics which assumes people act rationally, behavioral economics recognizes that people often make decisions based on psychological biases, social influences, cognitive shortcuts, and emotional factors. These units use scientific methods—including randomized controlled trials and field experiments—to design interventions that "nudge" people toward better choices without restricting their freedom, by making desired behaviors easier, more salient, or more appealing

Success cases

Swiss Re created one of the first behavioral research units in reinsurance in 2013, completing over 150 trials that have delivered significant financial impact for clients: they increased sales by 180% in a direct mail campaign, boosted claims form completion by 51%, and increased email open rates by 145% through personalized messaging.

Opower (now part of Oracle) pioneered the use of behavioral science in the energy sector by adding simple social comparison graphics and smiley faces to utility bills, which reduced household energy consumption by an average of 2-3% across millions of customers—delivering proven savings and an 11:1 return on investment for utility clients.

The Kraft Heinz Company partnered with behavioral science experts to implement nudges through workplace technology like Microsoft Teams, using the approach to drive organizational transformation and foster behavior change at scale.

Barclays Wealth launched its behavioral finance unit in 2006, developing a 36-question Financial Personality Assessment that helps approximately 5,000 high-net-worth clients make better investment decisions by accounting for their psychological tendencies around risk, composure, and market engagement—resulting in portfolios that clients are more likely to maintain over time.

Research from the UK's Behavioural Insights Team and other nudge units shows that while individual interventions typically produce modest effect sizes of 1.4 percentage points on average, their cumulative impact across millions of people generates substantial organizational value at minimal implementation cost