Does the Frequency of Reminders Matter for Their Effectiveness? A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

We assess the impact of reminder frequency on the probability of paying overdue property taxes in a randomized controlled trial in China. One reminder a week (sent as a text message) considerably increases the probability of tax compliance and results in tangible fiscal gains compared to a one-off reminder. However, increasing the frequency of reminders to two text messages a week diminishes their effectiveness. The takeaway of our study is that frequent reminders are an important trigger for human behavior, nonetheless, beyond a certain frequency the effectiveness of additional reminders seems to decline.

Keywords: Reminder Frequency, Randomized Controlled Trial, Tax Compliance

JEL Classification: C93, H24, H26