Article
Pulk K, Riitsalu L & Comerford DA (2025) Prompts cause people to update their preference of when to take retirement and increase confidence in choice. International Social Security Review, 78 (1), pp. 3-27. https://doi.org/10.1111/issr.12380
About me
David Comerford researches and teaches behavioural science. He is a founder of the MSc Behavioural Science and has been Program Director since 2017. David enjoys interdisciplinary collaboration. He was a postdoctoral researcher at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business where he worked on organizational behaviour and health with Peter Ubel, a medical doctor in the marketing department. Since coming to Stirling, David has collaborated on projects with colleagues in Aquaculture, Psychology, Philosophy, Ageing and Dementia and Natural Sciences.
David’s research uncovers novel insights on how organizations can help their workers achieve the goals that they value. He has worked on funded projects with a wide variety of organizations including:
•The NHS on how to help new mothers achieve their breastfeeding goals
•The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service to promote tissue retrieval.
•Infix Support on how to make the scheduling of surgeries more efficient
•Glasgow Film Theatre on how to induce filmgoers to choose more adventurously
•The Estonian Ministry for Social Affairs on how to help workers choose when to take their pension
•The Scottish Avalanche Information Service on how to communicate avalanche risk more effectively.
His work uses randomized controlled trials, survey experiments and analysis of large datasets. He has published in ABS 4+ outlets including Risk Analysis and the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking as well as in leading medical journals such as BMC Public Health and the New England Journal of Medicine. His research has been covered by Forbes, the Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, National Public Radio, Forbes and the Harvard Business Review. He is currently funded by Open Philanthropy to apply behavioural science to improve the scientific peer review.
Research projects (3)
Vaccines against AMR in Aquaculture
PI: Professor Margaret Crumlish
Funded by: International Development Research Centre
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The impact of COVID-19 Fear: evidence to inform social, health and economic recovery - a Healthy Ageing In Scotland (HAGIS) study
PI: Dr Elaine Douglas
Funded by: UK Research and Innovation
–
Behavioural Science Workshop Series
PI:
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council
–
Outputs (53)
Article
Ebert PA, Miller DL, Comerford DA & Diggins M (2025) End user and forecaster interpretations of the European Avalanche Danger Scale: A study of avalanche probability judgments in Scotland. Risk Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.70016
Article
Comerford DA & Soll JB (2024) Partisan bias, attribute substitution, and the benefits of an indirect format for eliciting forecasts and judgments of trend. International Journal of Forecasting, 41 (2), pp. 702-715. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijforecast.2024.11.005
Conference Paper (published)
End User Interpretation of the Avalanche Danger Scale: A Scottish Study
Ebert PA, Miller DL, Comerford DA & Diggins M (2024) End User Interpretation of the Avalanche Danger Scale: A Scottish Study. In: Proceedings of the International Snow Science Workshop 2024, Tromsø, Norway. Proceedings of the International Snow Science Workshop. International Snow Science Workshop, Tromsø, Norway, 23.09.2024-27.09.2024. Montana: Montana State University Library, pp. 1626 - 1632. https://arc.lib.montana.edu/snow-science/item.php?id=3361
Article
Bridger EK, Tufte‐Hewett A, Comerford D & Nettle D (2024) Why are socioeconomic health inequalities unacceptable? Studying the influence of explanatory framings on cognitive appraisals. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy. https://doi.org/10.1111/asap.12415
Article
Comerford DA, Tufte-Hewett A & Bridger EK (2024) Public preferences to trade-off gains in total health for health equality: Discrepancies between an abstract scenario versus the real-world scenario presented by COVID-19. Rationality and Society, 36 (1), pp. 66-92. https://doi.org/10.1177/10434631231193599
Article
Bridger EK, Tufte-Hewett A & Comerford DA (2023) Perceived health inequalities: are the UK and US public aware of occupation-related health inequality, and do they wish to see it reduced?. BMC Public Health, 23 (1), Art. No.: 2326 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17120-6
Article
Dispositional and situational attributions for why the rich live longer than the poor
Bridger EK, Tufte‐Hewett A & Comerford DA (2023) Dispositional and situational attributions for why the rich live longer than the poor. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 53 (6), pp. 469-481. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12955
Article
Arakelyan S, Brown T, McCabe L, McGregor L, Comerford D, Dawson A, Bell D, Douglas C, Houston J & Douglas E (2023) The social, health and economic impact of COVID-19 – Healthy Ageing In Scotland (HAGIS): a protocol for a mixed-methods study. BMJ Open, 13 (2), Art. No.: e061427. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-061427
Article
Comerford DA (2023) Response Bias in Survey Measures of Expectations: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Expectations’ Inflation Module. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmcb.13003
Research Report
Expectations After And During The Pandemic
Comerford D, Houston J, Duggan A, Bell D & Douglas E (2022) Expectations After And During The Pandemic [HAGIS COVID-19 AND YOU: IMPACT AND RECOVERY STUDY]. UKRI. Stirling. https://www.hagis.scot/_files/ugd/5d9fd0_edfb240231634b77bc0430f87b366ea4.pdf
Research Report
Home Working In Scotland During And After The Pandemic Prevalence Experiences And Preferences
Comerford D, Duggan A, Bell D & Douglas E (2022) Home Working In Scotland During And After The Pandemic Prevalence Experiences And Preferences [HAGIS COVID-19 AND YOU: IMPACT AND RECOVERY STUDY]. UKRI. Stirling. https://www.hagis.scot/_files/ugd/5d9fd0_e35fd755cdb84ebc945dc6548771ec16.pdf
Research Report
HAGIS COVID Impact & Recovery Executive Summary Report
Douglas E, Bell D, Dawson A, Brown T, Pemble C, Houston J, Comerford D, Olivarius O, Duggan A, McCabe L, Douglas C, McGregor L & Coutts-Murray K (2022) HAGIS COVID Impact & Recovery Executive Summary Report. UKRI. Stirling. https://www.hagis.scot/reports
Article
Understanding Vaccine Hesitancy in Vietnamese Fish Farmers
Chambers JA, Crumlish M, Comerford DA, Phuoc L, Phuong V & O’Carroll RE (2022) Understanding Vaccine Hesitancy in Vietnamese Fish Farmers. Antibiotics, 11 (7), Art. No.: 878. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11070878
Newspaper Article
Northern Ireland protocol row could damage good faith needed for post-Brexit trade deals
Comerford D (2022) Northern Ireland protocol row could damage good faith needed for post-Brexit trade deals. The Conversation. 21.06.2022.
Newspaper Article
Comerford D (2022) Climate change: efficiency labels really do encourage less energy use - but there's a better way of using them. The Conversation. 26.05.2022.
Technical Report
SAIS User Survey Summary Report
Ebert P & Comerford D (2022) SAIS User Survey Summary Report. Diggins M (Contact Person) Scottish Avalanche Information Services. Online.
Newspaper Article
Will booking an Airbnb help Ukraine? Why people make counterproductive decisions about charity
Comerford D (2022) Will booking an Airbnb help Ukraine? Why people make counterproductive decisions about charity. The Conversation. 10.03.2022.
Article
Comerford DA & Lades LK (2022) Responsibility utility and the difference between preference and desirance: implications for welfare evaluation. Social Choice and Welfare, 58 (2), pp. 201-224. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00355-021-01352-9
Working Paper
Validation of the Worries Emerging from the Covid-19 Pandemic (WECP) Scale
Comerford D, Olivarius O, Bell D & Douglas E (2022) Validation of the Worries Emerging from the Covid-19 Pandemic (WECP) Scale.
Article
Leveraging the motivational effects of labels: Lessons from retrofitting
Comerford DA, Moro M, Sejas-Portillo R & Stowasser T (2021) Leveraging the motivational effects of labels: Lessons from retrofitting. Behavioral Science and Policy, 7 (2), pp. 17-25. https://doi.org/10.1353/bsp.2021.0010
Article
Effect of obstacles/tips card on breastfeeding drop-off
Comerford DA & McGillivray T (2021) Effect of obstacles/tips card on breastfeeding drop-off. British Journal of Midwifery, 29 (9), pp. 510-515. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjom.2021.29.9.510
Newspaper Article
Breastfeeding is tough: new research shows how to make it more manageable
Comerford D (2021) Breastfeeding is tough: new research shows how to make it more manageable. The Conversation. 15.10.2021.
Newspaper Article
Comerford D (2021) Climate change: convincing people to pay to tackle it is hard - treating it like a pension could help. The Conversation. 05.10.2021.
Newspaper Article
Exposure of faked dishonesty study makes me proud to be a behavioural scientist
Comerford D (2021) Exposure of faked dishonesty study makes me proud to be a behavioural scientist. The Conversation. 08.09.2021.
Newspaper Article
Women may not be more pessimistic than men after all - why that matters for the gender pay gap
Comerford D (2021) Women may not be more pessimistic than men after all - why that matters for the gender pay gap. The Conversation. 20.08.2021.
Article
Comerford DA (2021) Apparent age and gender differences in survival optimism: To what extent are they a bias in the translation of beliefs onto a percentage scale?. Judgment and Decision Making, 16 (4), pp. 1072-1096. http://journal.sjdm.org/21/210219/jdm210219.html
Conference Paper (published)
Douglas E, Bell DNF, Comerford D, McCabe L, Pemble C, McGregor L & Brown T (2021) The Impact of COVID-19 Fear: Evidence To Inform Social, Health And Economic Recovery - A Healthy Ageing In Scotland (HAGIS) Study. In: Ageing Past, Present and Future: Innovation and Change. British Society of Gerontology 50th Annual Conference, Online, 07.07.2021-09.07.2021. Hampshire: British Society of Gerontology, p. 165. https://www.britishgerontology.org/public/31949/BSG_Conference_Book_2021_Online_v2.pdf
Newspaper Article
New EU carbon tax: wrong rate could wreck net-zero goals – but right rate can help world’s poor
Comerford D (2021) New EU carbon tax: wrong rate could wreck net-zero goals – but right rate can help world’s poor. The Conversation. 25.05.2021.
Newspaper Article
Reparations for slavery and colonial abuses: how behavioural science can help
Comerford D (2021) Reparations for slavery and colonial abuses: how behavioural science can help. The Conversation. 28.05.2021.
Working Paper
Comerford D, Olivarius O, Dawson A, Brown T, Bell D, McGregor L, Pemble C, McCabe L & Douglas E (2021) Did Negative News Regarding the Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine end in Vaccine Hesitancy? A Repeated Cross-Section Event Study from the UK.
Website Content
AstraZeneca suspension increased concern but did not change vaccination intentions in UK
Comerford D (2021) AstraZeneca suspension increased concern but did not change vaccination intentions in UK. University of Stirling Public Policy Blog [Blog post] 26.03.2021. https://policyblog.stir.ac.uk/2021/03/26/astrazeneca-suspension-increased-concern-but-did-not-change-vaccination-intentions-in-uk/
Other
Dawson A, Pemble C, Brown T, Comerford D, Olivarius O, McGregor L, Bell D & Douglas E (2021) A rapid review of the development and validation of instruments specifically designed to assess or measure 'COVID-19 fear'. National Institute for Health Research. PROSPERO 2021, CRD42021250233. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021250233
Newspaper Article
How to manage family expectations and avoid breaking rules this Christmas
Comerford D, Douglas E & Olivarius O (2020) How to manage family expectations and avoid breaking rules this Christmas. The Conversation. 22.12.2020.
Working Paper
Sejas-Portillo R, Coemrford D, Moro M & Stowasser T (2020) Limited Attention in the Housing Market: Threshold Effects of Energy-Performance Certificates on Property Prices and Energy-Efficiency Investments. CESifo Working Papers. CESifo Working Papers. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3727743
Newspaper Article
COVID-19 vaccine: how the 'mum test' can help ensure take-up
Comerford D (2020) COVID-19 vaccine: how the 'mum test' can help ensure take-up. The Conversation. 13.11.2020.
Newspaper Article
Local lockdown funding negotiations: what UK government should learn from behavioural economists
Comerford D (2020) Local lockdown funding negotiations: what UK government should learn from behavioural economists. The Conversation. 23.10.2020.
Book Review
Comerford DA (2020) Review of A Fast and Frugal Finance: Bridging Contemporary Behavioral Finance and Ecological Rationality by William P. Forbes, Aloysius Obinna Igboekwu, & Shabnam Mousavi. Journal of Economic Psychology, 80, Art. No.: 102278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2020.102278
Article
Robinson J & Comerford DA (2020) The Effect on Annuities Preference of Prompts to Consider Life Expectancy: Evidence from a UK Quota Sample. Economica, 87 (347), pp. 747-762. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecca.12326
Article
Bell D, Comerford D & Douglas E (2020) How Do Subjective Life Expectancies Compare with Mortality Tables? Similarities and Differences in Three National Samples. Journal of the Economics of Ageing, 16, Art. No.: 100241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeoa.2020.100241
Article
Chambers JA, Crumlish M, Comerford DA & O'Carroll RE (2020) Antimicrobial Resistance in Humans and Animals: Rapid Review of Psychological and Behavioral Determinants. Antibiotics, 9 (6), Art. No.: 285. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics9060285
Newspaper Article
Seeing a daily coronavirus death toll might actually make us take more risks
Comerford D & McCabe S (2020) Seeing a daily coronavirus death toll might actually make us take more risks. The Conversation. 08.04.2020.
Newspaper Article
Coronavirus should give us hope that we are able to tackle the climate crisis
Comerford D (2020) Coronavirus should give us hope that we are able to tackle the climate crisis. The Conversation. 09.03.2020.
Newspaper Article
How behavioural science could help us reach zero emissions
Comerford D (2020) How behavioural science could help us reach zero emissions. The Conversation. 24.01.2020.
Newspaper Article
Many over-55s can't cope with pension freedoms - it may now be time to scrap them
Comerford D (2019) Many over-55s can't cope with pension freedoms - it may now be time to scrap them. The Conversation. 25.11.2019.
Article
Comerford DA (2019) Asking for frequencies rather than percentages increases the validity of subjective probability measures: Evidence from subjective life expectancy. Economics Letters, 180, pp. 33-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2019.04.001
Article
Proof of concept that requiring energy labels for dwellings can induce retrofitting
Comerford DA, Lange I & Moro M (2018) Proof of concept that requiring energy labels for dwellings can induce retrofitting. Energy Economics, 69, pp. 204-212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2017.11.013
Article
Comerford DA & Robinson J (2017) Die-by Framing both Lengthens and Shortens Life: Further Evidence on Constructed Beliefs in Life Expectancy. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 30 (5), pp. 1104-1112. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.2027
Article
Healthcare.gov 3.0 - Behavioral economics and insurance exchanges
Ubel PA, Comerford DA & Johnson E (2015) Healthcare.gov 3.0 - Behavioral economics and insurance exchanges. New England Journal of Medicine, 372 (8), pp. 695-698. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp1414771
Article
Effort Aversion: Job choice and compensation decisions overweight effort
Comerford DA & Ubel PA (2013) Effort Aversion: Job choice and compensation decisions overweight effort. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 92, pp. 152-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2013.05.016
Article
Angott AM, Comerford DA & Ubel PA (2013) Imagining life with an ostomy: Does a video intervention improve quality-of-life predictions for a medical condition that may elicit disgust?. Patient Education and Counseling, 91 (1), pp. 113-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2012.10.015
Article
Comerford DA (2011) Attenuating focalism in affective forecasts of the commuting experience: Implications for economic decisions and policy making. Journal of Economic Psychology, 32 (5), pp. 691-699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2011.06.005
Article
Experimental tests of survey responses to expenditure questions
Comerford DA, Delaney L & Harmon C (2009) Experimental tests of survey responses to expenditure questions. Fiscal Studies, 30 (3-4), pp. 419-433. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.2009.00102.x