Rental License Renewal — Behavioral Messaging
City of Philadelphia Licenses and Inspections Department · Philadelphia, USA · 2020
Summary
Philadelphia tested three message frames for prompting rental license renewal. All outperformed the control, but the frame emphasizing what the landlord personally gains from compliance ('protect your investment, renew on time') performed best for driving online registration—the first step in the renewal funnel. This adds to the body of evidence that benefit-to-actor framing outperforms civic duty appeals for compliance tasks.
Research question
"Which letter framing most effectively increases rental license online registration and renewal?"
Methodology
Intervention
Randomized to: control, standard reminder, personal benefits emphasis, city benefits emphasis
Assignment
Randomized controlled trial (license holder)
Sample size
11,579 rental license holders
Primary outcome
Online account registration; renewal rate
Effect estimate
All treatment arms outperformed control; personal benefits framing marginally strongest for registration
Decision
Personal benefits framing adopted for renewal outreach
Result
Positive
All treatment arms outperformed control; personal benefits framing marginally strongest for registration
Evidence strength
Strong
Randomized controlled trial with large sample.
Replication status
Open for replication
Institution
City of Philadelphia Licenses and Inspections Department
Location
Philadelphia, USA
Year
2020
Policy area
Administrative Process
Mechanism
Personalization