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
About me
David Comerford researches and teaches in the economics division and the Behavioural Science Centre of the Â鶹´«Ã½AV. His research uncovers insights on how people make mistaken judgments and decisions - for instance, judgments of trends over time, judgments of expenditure, and judgments of how an experience will feel.? ? David works with policy makers and businesses in the USA, the UK and Ireland applying his research findings to improve decision making. He is currently collaborating with the Scottish Government on a project to improve economic forecasts, and is supervising a PhD student on this topic. ? Media outlets that have covered David's research include the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, National Public Radio, Forbes, the Harvard Business Review. ?? Prior to coming to Â鶹´«Ã½AV David worked at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and at University College Dublin. David has won research awards from the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology, the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences Scholar, and the Fulbright Commission.
consumer decision making; survey design; biases in forecasting.
David has experience collaborating with industry bodies and policy makers. He is currently working with: NHS Lothian to help mothers stick to their breastfeeding plans; The Scottish Avalanche Information Service to improve avalanche forecasts; The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service to promote tissue retrieval.
Research projects (3)
Vaccines against AMR in Aquaculture
PI: Professor Margaret Crumlish
Funded by: International Development Research Centre
¨C
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
¨C
Behavioural Science Workshop Series
PI:
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council
¨C
Outputs (51)
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, Troms?, Norway. Proceedings of the International Snow Science Workshop. International Snow Science Workshop, Troms?, 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 ¨C 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
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. Â鶹´«Ã½AV. https://www.hagis.scot/_files/ugd/5d9fd0_e35fd755cdb84ebc945dc6548771ec16.pdf
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. Â鶹´«Ã½AV. https://www.hagis.scot/_files/ugd/5d9fd0_edfb240231634b77bc0430f87b366ea4.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. Â鶹´«Ã½AV. 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 / Magazine
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 / Magazine
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: Â鶹´«Ã½AV.
Newspaper / Magazine
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
Preprint / 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 / Magazine
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 / Magazine
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 / Magazine
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 / Magazine
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 / Magazine
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.
Newspaper / Magazine
New EU carbon tax: wrong rate could wreck net-zero goals ¨C but right rate can help world¡¯s poor
Comerford D (2021) New EU carbon tax: wrong rate could wreck net-zero goals ¨C but right rate can help world¡¯s poor. The Conversation. 25.05.2021.
Preprint / 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. Â鶹´«Ã½AV 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 / Magazine
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.
Newspaper / Magazine
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.
Preprint / 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
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
Newspaper / Magazine
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.
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
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
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
Newspaper / Magazine
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 / Magazine
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 / Magazine
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 / Magazine
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