Member-only story
How to get people to love taxes!
The power of the placebo is becoming more understood every single day. One area where it could have a huge impact is consumer decision making. A simple example of a placebo is the humble sugar pill that even if consumed in the place of a real pill can lead to someone feeling the positive effects.
What is the sugar pill of government taxation?
Taxes are often very wide-ranging, and your hard-earned money can go towards anything from a new aircraft carrier to a minister’s duck house. This perception of frivolous spending coupled with the ambiguous definition of tax leads many people to see it as a depressing annoyance. How do we get people excited and engaged with paying taxes?
Why not let everyone change the name given to tax on their monthly payslips? What if instead of some dull acronym they could name the contribution “charity fund” or “payments for Charlie’s school”?
What is the point of this?
Well, if taxes have become loathsome and meaningless then of course people will begrudge paying them, but if you let people reframe what paying taxes means to them, then their impression of taxes will shift accordingly.
What would you prefer to pay, “taxes” or “my local pothole fund”?
