The role of communication framing in boosting contributions in private pension schemes: evidence from two survey experiments

As many countries, including China, face the challenges of population ageing, private pension options have been expanded to address pension sustainability issues. Despite offering financial incentives, participation in these schemes remains low. This paper explores how communication framing influences individuals’ engagement with private pension systems, focusing on gain-loss and time framing effects. Using two survey experiments conducted in China, the results show that communication framing can motivate contributions. Specifically, messages emphasizing the loss of inaction are more effective than those highlighting the benefits of contribution. Immediate framing increases willingness to contribute too, with the combination of a loss frame and an immediate frame proving especially effective. However, the effects of the loss-related framing, particularly the combination of loss and immediate framing, are attenuated in pilot cities where individuals have prior exposure to the policy. Exploratory heterogeneity analysis suggests that the framing effects may vary with individuals’ temporal orientation and life stage. These findings provide valuable insights for pension policy communications, especially on how strategic framing can boost contributions in private pension systems.