Behavioral Economics Activities
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Behavioral Economics Activities
PLAY: Public Goods Game
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate and analyze the Public Goods Dilemma
- Discuss incentives and decision making based on individual benefit vs. group benefit
ECON: Risk and Loss Aversion
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Make decisions that involve different levels of risk and loss
PLAY: Dollar Auction Game
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate the effect of cognitive biases in making decisions
- Discuss the process of making decisions that involve Sunk Costs
[This activity has no answer key]
ANALYZE: Change a Bad Financial Habit
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Examine a bad financial habit of theirs that they would like to change
- Understand the Habit Cycle as described by Charles Duhigg in his book, The Power of Habit
- Create and execute a plan to help them change their bad financial habit
- Reflect on how the Habit Cycle empowers them to change their habits
ANALYZE: FOMO & Herd Mentality in Advertisements
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Identify advertisements that use the cognitive biases FOMO and Herd Mentality
- Analyze how FOMO and Herd Mentality influence consumers
- Create their own advertisement using FOMO and Herd Mentality
[This activity has no answer key]
CREATE: A PSA on Why We Shop
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Explain what Hedonic Adaptation is and how it can affect our personal finances
- Create a PSA on a social media platform of their choice
- Identify strategies to counteract the effect of Hedonic Adaptation
[This activity has no answer key]
PLAY: Roll with the Market
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Play game that elicits various emotions when we gain, lose, or miss out on investment opportunities
- Reflect on the psychology behind some of the investment decisions we make
You can find the Spanish version(s) of student materials linked in the activity under "Materials & Prep".
PROJECT: The Ultimate Social Media Strategy
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Identify marketing tactics and cognitive biases used in social media that can influence consumers
- Work in groups to create an engaging social media marketing strategy
- Pitch their social media marketing strategy to the class
- Discuss their awareness of cognitive biases and how they influence consumer behavior
[This activity has no answer key]
