Abstract
Nudges are defined as small adjustments in the choice architecture that stimulate desirable behavior. Nudging techniques can be used as a promising policy tool, but research has hardly systematically taken into account the complexity of the situation in which nudges have been implemented. In the current studies, we investigated the effectiveness of a proximity nudge on food choice in a realistic situation with multiple options in the immediate surroundings of the target option. In two studies, we presented participants from a community sample with an assortment of either three or nine different types of chocolate. For half of the participants, the target chocolate was placed most proximally on a table. Across two studies, we demonstrated that the proximity nudge was effective in stimulating the choice for a specific piece of chocolate in a simple and more complex situation. Results were further qualified by Bayesian analyses, which revealed most support for the hypothesis that the proximity effect existed in both the conditions with three and nine options, regardless of the number of options in the choice set. Results imply that the proximity effect can remain robust in realistic situations that include multiple options in the immediate environment to choose from.
Highlights
In recent years, more and more research has been devoted to interventions called nudges: small adjustments in the choice architecture that stimulate a specific choice option, without forbidding alternative options or financially interfering with them (Thaler and Sunstein, 2008)
We investigated the effectiveness of a proximity nudge on food choice in a realistic situation with multiple options in the immediate surroundings of the target option
More and more research has been devoted to interventions called nudges: small adjustments in the choice architecture that stimulate a specific choice option, without forbidding alternative options or financially interfering with them (Thaler and Sunstein, 2008)
Summary
More and more research has been devoted to interventions called nudges: small adjustments in the choice architecture that stimulate a specific choice option, without forbidding alternative options or financially interfering with them (Thaler and Sunstein, 2008). While many studies have shown promising results, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the hypothesized working mechanisms or boundary conditions of their effectiveness. A recent scoping review revealed that the majority of published studies aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of nudges in a particular setting (Szaszi et al, 2018). Oftentimes, these settings are rather simplified settings in which a decision maker has to decide between choosing one out of two alternatives. In other behavioral fields, such as sustainable behavior, similar simplified settings have been used to study the effectiveness
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