Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) testing has revealed a key challenge for pension communications is that grabbing attention is not the same as building trust or driving meaningful engagement.
Through a series of behavioural experiments, the FCA examined how different email strategies influence whether consumers interact with their pensions, using click-throughs to MoneyHelper as a proxy.
The regulator found that behaviourally informed subject lines, particularly those tackling present bias, were effective at boosting open rates, with “future-focused” prompts outperforming standard messaging by up to 12 percentage points.
However, the research shows that getting consumers to open an email is only part of the challenge. Despite stronger open rates, click-through levels remained unchanged, suggesting that initial interest does not necessarily lead to action.
Design and tone emerged as critical factors. Emails created to stand out visually often had the opposite effect, with some participants mistaking them for spam or marketing, leading to lower trust and weaker understanding. In some cases, these messages even reduced consumers’ willingness to engage with guidance services.
Following these findings, the FCA refined its approach, combining simpler, more neutral formats with behavioural messaging. Techniques such as social norms – highlighting that others seek pension guidance – proved more effective at building trust and encouraging engagement.
The results reinforce the importance of pre-testing and iteration in financial communications and underline that cutting through requires more than creativity. Instead, it demands credibility, clarity and a deep understanding of consumer behaviour.