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.