Abstract
AbstractOn the one hand, default nudges are proven to strongly influence behavior. On the other hand, a number of consumer autonomy and welfare concerns have been raised that hinder public policy applications. Both nudge success and ethical concerns depend heavily on the design of defaults. We identify six taxonomic characteristics that matter to the ethical and the nudge success dimension. We review the default nudge literature (N = 61) and review ethical studies to assess both dimensions concerning the taxonomy. When designing a default, a choice architect inevitably makes a decision concerning the characteristics. Among others, the results show three main findings. (1) The initial choice architecture regularly imposes welfare losses and impedes consumer autonomy. Forced active choosing can mitigate both issues. (2) Empirical evidence suggests that transparent defaults are similarly effective as the non-transparent counterparts. (3) The framing of the choice in combination with a choice structuring default leads to greater nudge success and tends to involve the reflective decision-making patterns. Choice architects can trade-off nudge success for legitimacy but a design change may also benefit one without harming the other. We discuss further options of choice architects to legitimize a default.
Highlights
Defaults nudges1 are increasingly applied in behavioral domains. They can influence how much a person is willing to donate for a social cause, the food he or she chooses, the health care plan, whether a person opts for green energy, and more (Sunstein, 2015a, 2015b; Sunstein & Reisch, 2019)
We provide a full list of the reviewed empirical studies and the target behaviors they address (Appendix Table A1)
The initial state of the choice architecture: Undesirable defaults, active choosing, and desirable defaults Classification Each decision is subject to one of three states concerning defaults that we order by desirability in the eyes of the choice architect: Undesirable defaults (UDC) → active choice (ACC) → desirable defaults condition (DDC)
Summary
Defaults nudges are increasingly applied in behavioral domains. They can influence how much a person is willing to donate for a social cause, the food he or she chooses, the health care plan, whether a person opts for green energy, and more (Sunstein, 2015a, 2015b; Sunstein & Reisch, 2019). Default settings determine the way consumers initially encounter the products, services, or policies (Johnson et al, 2012). The default setting may preselect a health care plan.
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