The booming business in behavioural finance

IT'S hard to find a place today where concepts of behavioural finance aren't being applied to real-world situations. From London to Washington to Sydney, governments are experimenting with the psychology of decision-making and trying to "nudge" citizens towards better behaviours, whether that means saving more for retirement or signing an organ donation card.

Meanwhile, businesses see opportunities for higher profits. To grab more attention and dollars from consumers, companies as far afield as banks and fitness-app makers carefully design their offerings with consumers' decision-making quirks in mind.

Many behavioural interventions work, whether at reducing litter and power usag…