Kirstin Appelt
BA (Dartmouth College), MA PhD (Columbia University)
Research Associate, Marketing and Behavioural Science Division
Research Director, UBC Decision Insights for Business & Society (UBC-DIBS)
Academic Director, UBC's Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights
Kirstin's research explores why people struggle with important decisions about the future and how to use choice architecture to help them make the best decisions for themselves and for society. As a behavioural science consultant, Kirstin has worked with organizations including the BC Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG), the California Health Benefit Exchange, Columbia University's Center for Decision Sciences and Center for Research on Environmental Decisions, Fraser Health Authority, Google, the Pacific Business Group on Health, the Social Security Administration, Technical Safety BC, and WorkSafeBC.
Selected publications
- Knoll, M. A. Z., Appelt, K. C., Johnson, E. J., & Westfall, J. E. (2015). Time to retire: Why Americans claim benefits early and how to encourage delay. Behavioral Science and Policy, 1(1), 53-62.
- Handgraaf, M. J. J., van Lidth de Jeude, M. A., & Appelt, K. C. (2013). Public praise vs. private pay: Effects of rewards on energy conservation in the workplace. Ecological Economics, 86, 86-92. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.11.008
- Hardisty, D. J., Appelt, K. C., & Weber, E. U. (2013). Good or bad, we want it now: Fixed-cost present bias for gains and losses explains magnitude asymmetries in intertemporal choice. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 26(4), 348-361. doi: 10.1002/bdm.1771
- Payne, J. W., Sagara, N., Shu, S. B., Appelt, K. C., & Johnson, E. J. (2013). Life expectancy as a constructed belief: Evidence of a live-to or die-by framing effect. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 46(1), 27-50. doi: 10.1007/s11166-012-9158-0
- Appelt, K. C., Hardisty, D. J., & Weber, E. U. (2011). Asymmetric discounting of gains and losses: A Query Theory account. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 43(2), 107-126. doi: 10.1007/s11166-011-9125-1
- Appelt, K. C., Milch, K. F., Handgraaf, M. J. J., & Weber, E. U. (2011). The Decision Making Individual Differences Inventory and guidelines for the study of individual differences in judgment and decision making. Judgment and Decision Making, 6(3), 252-262.
Research interests
- Behavioural insights
- Environmental, financial, and social sustainability
- Consumer judgment and decision making