Effectiveness Of Nudges Research Articles

A nudge in the right direction: the role of food choice architecture in changing populations' diets.

Populations' diets typically fall short of recommendations. The implication of this on ill health and quality of life is well established, as are the subsequent health care costs. An area of growing interest within public health nutrition is food choice architecture; how a food choice is framed and its influence on subsequent food selection. In particular, there is an appeal to manipulating the choice architecture in order to nudge individuals' food choice. This review outlines the current understanding of food choice architecture, theoretical background to nudging and the evidence on the effectiveness of nudge strategies, as well as their design and implementation. Interventions emphasising the role of nudge strategies have investigated changes to the accessibility, availability and presentation of food and the use of prompts. Empirical studies have been conducted in laboratories, online and in real-world food settings, and with different populations. Evidence on the effectiveness of nudge strategies in shifting food choice is encouraging. Underpinning mechanisms, not yet fully explicated, are proposed to relate to salience, social norms and the principle of least effort. Emerging evidence points to areas for development including the effectiveness of choice architecture interventions with different and diverse populations, and the combined effect of multiple nudges. This, alongside further examination of theoretical mechanisms and guidance to engage and inspire across the breadth of food provision, is critical. In this way, the potential of choice architecture to effect meaningful change in populations' diets will be realised.

Under pressure: Nudging increases healthy food choice in a virtual reality supermarket, irrespective of system 1 reasoning

Previous research has shown that nudging can effectively support people's healthy food choices. Yet, to date knowledge about the psychological premises of nudging is limited, highlighting the need for closer scrutiny to determine how and when nudging is most effective. In the current study, we assessed whether the presumed effect of nudging on healthy food choice is enhanced under time pressure, a condition probing alleged system 1 reasoning. Food choice was studied in a realistic virtual reality supermarket where healthier alternatives were nudged by making them more salient. We additionally explored possible differences in decision-making experiences related to nudging or time pressure. The study took place at a science festival where visitors could decide to participate in a study. Participants (n = 99) had to purchase four products, each from a different product category that was provided on a shopping list. In the nudging condition, one healthier option within each product category was nudged by making it more salient. While a main effect of nudging was found, showing in increased healthy food choices, this effect was not further qualified by time pressure, suggesting that the effectiveness of nudging is not enhanced under system 1 conditions. Relatedly, people who were and who were not aware of the nudges showed similar effects of nudging on healthy food choice. Furthermore, no differences in decision-making experiences showed, suggesting that people have similar experiences regarding impulsive and reflective decision-making irrespective of whether they are being nudged or put under time pressure. All in all, our findings are in line with recent viewpoints on the premises of nudges, suggesting that alleged system 1 conditions are not a prerequisite for nudging to be effective.

Experimental Evidence on Which Academic Outcomes Nudging Can Shift for First-Year College Students from High-FRL Schools

Administrators are increasingly focused on at-risk student performance/persistence. Informational campaigns to shift behavior are tempting, given widely-publicized successes by nudges regarding college access. However, there is minimal evidence on the effectiveness of nudges on college success. We provide results from a low-cost two-arm experimental-assignment nudging campaign for first-year students at a high-research university; showing persistence effects (12 percentage-point) for one treatment arm, and treatment estimates on cumulative GPA and credits earned that align in magnitude with the most-similar other intervention (Castleman & Meyer, 2020). Our work can inform the design of future nudging interventions for college performance and persistence.

Innovation for Sustainable Cities: The Effects of Nudging and Gamification Methods on Urban Mobility and Sustainability Behaviour

Innovation for Sustainable Cities: The Effects of Nudging and Gamification Methods on Urban Mobility and Sustainability Behaviour

Encouraging Uptake of the COVID-19 Vaccine Through Behaviorally Informed Interventions: National Real-World Evidence From Israel

The current paper clarifies the value of two methods to encourage COVID-19 vaccination: Simple nudge reminders, and regulation that increases the benefit from vaccination. Our analysis of reminders is based on a controlled experiment. The results reveal that in the current context a reminder that emphasizes personal benefit is 9% more effective than a social benefit nudge. Our analysis of regulations can be described as a case study. It suggests that the green pass policy implemented in Israel on February 21, 2021 (and relaxes the social distance constraints for vaccinated individuals) was associated with an increase of 20% in the vaccination rate. We conclude with a discussion of the conditions that determine the relative effectiveness of personal benefit nudges

Nudging Virtuous Behaviours Without Crowding-Out Other Ones: Micro-Foundations to Behavioural Interventions

Nudges have become a popular instrument in the toolbox of policymakers. Yet, a growing number of evidence suggests some of them could influence other decisions than those targeted, raising the risk to inadvertently crowd-out the motivation to undertake further virtuous behaviours. To analyse such spillover effects, I develop micro-foundations to three hypothesised cognitive mechanisms leading to behavioural changes. Namely, I consider nudges that trigger either a preference for consistency, a willingness to signal an identity, or affect one's perceived ability to achieve results. I model individuals as consuming goods for different motives, such as preserving the environment. As such, goods are represented as combinations of attributes (e.g., carbon footprint). Two cases are considered. Individuals either make decisions to consume for a given motive (e.g., eating vegetarian) based on future decisions undertaken for the same motive (e.g., car-sharing) or make their current decisions in isolation to any other future decisions. In the first case, individuals can either perceive current and future decisions as complementary or substitutable to achieve the goal associated to the motive they are undertaken for (e.g., reducing one's environmental impact). This affects the effectiveness of nudges targeting current decisions. When they perceive these decisions as substitutable, nudges triggering a preference for consistency or/and a will for conformity are always less effective than nudges triggering other cognitive mechanisms. When individuals perceive them as complements, such nudges dominate any other interventions. What is more, I show how nudges can yield spillover effects on future choices. Interventions triggering a preference for consistency maximise these spillover effects.

Why Policymakers Should Be Transparent About the Behavioural Interventions They Use: A Systematic, Policy-Oriented Review

Governments and public agencies use nudges to address policy issues. However, policymakers remain hesitant to implement them for fear of public backlash. A potential remedy is to administer nudges accompanied by a transparency message. However, many still think that transparency might decrease the effectiveness of nudges. Our systematic literature review of the effect of transparency on nudge perceptions and effectiveness suggests that such a reservation is largely unfounded. Fourteen articles provide 87 tests of transparency. We find a positive effect on nudge effectiveness in 33, no effect in 52, and a negative effect in only two cases. Based on a systematic categorization of different transparency components, we provide a more nuanced view on their distinct impact on nudge effectiveness. We find that disclosing the underlying mechanism of a nudge significantly boosts their effectiveness. We highlight and discuss relevant policy implications and suggest further research avenues. Our insights contribute to a better understanding of transparent nudging, thus informing policymakers and researchers alike.

Politicizing Mask-Wearing: Predicting the Success of Behavioral Interventions Among Republicans and Democrats

Scientists and policymakers seek to choose effective interventions that promote preventative health measures. We evaluated whether academics, behavioral science practitioners, and laypeople (N = 1,034) were able to forecast the effectiveness of seven different messages compared to a baseline message for Republicans and Democrats separately. These messages were designed to nudge mask-wearing attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. When examining prediction error across political parties, forecasters predicted larger effects than those observed for Democrats compared to Republicans and made more accurate predictions for Republicans compared to Democrats. These results are partly driven by a lack of nudge effects on Democrats, as reported in Gelfand et al. (2021). Academics and practitioners made more accurate predictions compared to laypeople. Although forecasters' predictions were correlated with the nudge interventions, all groups overpredicted the observed results. We discuss how accurate forecasts of behavioral intervention outcomes provide insight that can help save resources and increase the efficacy of interventions by updating the accuracy of forecasters’ beliefs.

And How Would That Make You Feel? How People Expect Nudges to Influence Their Sense of Autonomy.

ObjectiveWhile nudges are increasingly utilized in public policy settings, their potential threat to autonomous choice is the topic of heated debate. Regardless of the actual effects of nudges on autonomy, the mere perception of nudges as autonomy threatening by the general public or policy makers could negatively influence nudge acceptability. The present online studies examined how people expect (different) nudges to affect their perception of autonomy.MethodsIn the first study (N = 455), participants were presented with a hypothetical choice that employed either a default nudge, direct persuasion, or no persuasion, to steer to the desired choice. The presented influence technique was explained before participants reported their expected autonomy, as well as their expected choice satisfaction. Study 2 (N = 601) involved a replication of Study 1 with an additional social norm nudge condition. In Study 3 (N = 750), the explanation of how choice had been influenced was omitted.ResultsWhile participants expected the default nudge to violate autonomy (Study 1), they had no such expectations for social norm nudges (Study 2). Omitting the explanation that most people are unaware of nudges influencing their choice, reduced the negative impact of nudges on expected autonomy (Study 3).ConclusionEffects of nudges on expectations of autonomy differ by type of nudge. Negative expectations are primarily driven by the explanation that decision makers are often unaware of nudges.

I tweet, they follow, you eat: Number of followers as nudge on social media to eat more healthily.

• Consumption of healthy food in social settings is inhibited by its low social value. • Nudges that rely on social factors (social nudges) may improve this social value. • High numbers of followers on social media accounts are effective social nudges. • High numbers of followers increase social value, hence consumption of healthy food. • Influence of Presumed Influence explains the effectiveness of this social nudge.

A Review of Nudges: Definitions, Justifications, Effectiveness

In 2008, the behavioral economist Richard Thaler and the legal scholar Cass Sunstein published a book in which they advocated a novel approach to public policy based on the notion of a ‘nudge’. Roughly speaking, a nudge is an intervention in the decisional context that steers people’s decisions by acting on their cognitive biases. The notion of a nudge generated an intense debate across different disciplines and proved popular with many policy makers around the world. The present paper reviews the debate and research on nudges by focusing on three main dimensions: (1) the exact definition of nudges; (2) the justification of nudge policies, with a focus on ‘libertarian paternalism’; and (3) the effectiveness of nudges, both over time and in comparison with standard policies.

Overt or covert? Effect of different digital nudging on consumers’ customization choices

PurposeThis study aims to explore the effect of two digital nudging technologies that is overt digital nudging (ODN) and covert digital nudging (CDN), on consumers’ choices of nudged options in the context of online customization systems (OCS).Design/methodology/approachThis paper designed a 2 (ODN: yes/no) by 2 (CDN: yes/no) full factor between-subject lab experiment in the context of online travel package customization. This paper collected and analyzed the number of nudged options (the intermediate options) of choices among consumers in these four scenarios.FindingsODN and CDN have positive effects on consumers’ choices of nudged options in online customization (OC). In addition, mixed nudge (a combination of ODN and CDN) has a more significant effect on consumers’ choices of nudged options in OC than using CDN only.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focused only on the choice behavior of consumers in the customization context and did not analyze their attitude change. The present study used vendor recommendation as the proxy variable of ODN and default option as the proxy variable of CDN. A future study could explore other instances of ODN and CDN.Practical implicationsThis study explores the effects of digital nudging technologies in the context of OCS. The study provides clear guidance for customization vendors on whether to use digital nudging tools and their combinations, and which tools should be preferred.Social implicationsVendors can adopt digital nudging technology to persuade consumers to choose nudged options. This nudging effect can make consumers’ choices predictable and less uncertain, thus adding profits for vendors.Originality/valueFirst, the study focuses on the impact of digital nudging on consumers’ choices and enriches the understanding of the impact of customization system design on consumers’ choices. Second, this paper put forward a new classification method for digital nudging and proposed, respectively, the effect mechanisms on consumers’ customization choices. Third, this study explores the effect of combining multiple nudging tools in OC context on consumers’ choices, which deepens the understanding of the interactive effects of different types of nudging tools.

A transformative service research for healthy transition to adulthood of young people living alone in Korea.

This study was conducted to explore phenomena related to the physical, psychological and social health vulnerabilities of young people who lived alone and to establish strategy for service implementation to facilitate their healthy transition to adulthood. In accordance with the double diamond process of service design, five workshops involving 12 participants and 9 experts were held from July to November 2018 in the D-district of Seoul, Korea. As a result, the participants were identified as a difficult group to engage in health management because of their features: unconcern for health, inevitable neglect for health or fixation of lifestyle far from health. They were also a special group that was undergoing a double transition: the transition to adulthood and from living with their parents to living alone. Therefore, the strategy for them was derived that had to be in an indirectly and incidentally effective for health through the settlement of independent life and habit formation by transitional care as part of a nudge effect. The findings of this study can provide a basis for health and social care strategies and policies concerning young people who live alone. A follow-up study is proposed, which will involve the actualisation and application of a program based on the intervention strategy derived from these findings.

Nudging: Progress to date and future directions

Nudges influence behavior by changing the environment in which decisions are made, without restricting the menu of options and without altering financial incentives. This paper assesses past empirical research on nudging and provides recommendations for future work in this area by discussing examples of successful and unsuccessful nudges and by analyzing 174 articles that estimate nudge treatment effects. Researchers in disciplines spanning the behavioral sciences, using varied data sources, have documented that many different types of nudges succeed in changing behavior in a wide range of domains. Nudges that automate some aspect of the decision-making process have an average effect size, measured by Cohen’s d, that is 0.193 larger than that of other nudges. Our analyses point to the need for future research to pay greater attention to (1) determining which types of nudges tend to be most impactful; (2) using field and laboratory research approaches as complementary methods; (3) measuring long-run effects of nudges; (4) considering effects of nudges on non-targeted outcomes; and (5) examining interaction effects among nudges and other interventions.

Evidence-based policies, nudge theory and Nancy Cartwright: a search for causal principles

AbstractNancy Cartwright argues that evidence-based policies should not only rely on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to test their effectiveness – they should also use horizontal and vertical searches to find support factors and causal principles that help define how those policies work. This paper aims at analyzing Cartwright's epistemology regarding evidence-based policies and their use of RCTs while applying her findings to current research involving nudges as behavioral public policy interventions. Holding a narrowly instrumental view of rationality, nudge theory tends to neglect other expressive components. Policymakers, in their quest for causal principles, should consider the expressive rationality of individuals in their research. This inclusion would not only increase the effectiveness of nudges, but also address some ethical issues related to people's autonomy when targeted by these interventions.

Nudge with caution: targeting fruit and vegetable consumption in primary schools.

Most children in the UK are not eating enough fruit and vegetables to support optimum health. Evidence-based interventions are needed to change this trend. In the present pilot study, effectiveness of simple behavioural nudges on children's lunchtime consumption of fruit and vegetables was tested in two primary (elementary) schools. Children's (n = 107) lunchtime consumption was measured directly through the use of a validated digital photography protocol; measures were taken at baseline and again after a 3-week long intervention. Changes to the choice architecture of dining rooms included improved presentation and provision of target foods, attractive advertisements and labelling, and prompting by staff. For children who took school lunches (n = 67), both selection and consumption of fruit increased as the result of the intervention. Their selection of vegetables did not change over time, however, and their consumption ether remained unchanged or declined. No changes were observed in the comparison group (n = 40), who brought their lunch boxes from home. These results caution against using selection (serving sizes), as estimates of consumption or a measure of behaviour changes. They also show that all evaluations should consider the effects of each intervention on children's eating overall, rather than just report changes in target item consumption, to check for any unintended consequences of the intervention.

Do nudges make use of automatic processing? Unraveling the effects of a default nudge under type 1 and type 2 processing

ABSTRACT Nudges have become increasingly popular among policymakers as a tool to stimulate desirable behavior for individuals or society. One of the most prevailing assumptions of nudges is that they make use of automatic processing. Yet, this assumption has received little attention in experimental research. In two preregistered and high powered studies, we investigated this hypothesized working mechanism by using a nudge that has most typically been described as a Type 1 nudge: defaults. In both studies, we used a scenario in which participants could choose from a list of green amenities, which were either preselected (opt-out condition) or not (opt-in condition). In Study 1, we investigated the effectiveness of this default nudge under Type 1 processing by manipulating cognitive load. In Study 2, we investigated its effectiveness under Type 2 processing by explicitly instructing half of the participants to deliberate upon their choice. Both studies revealed strong and robust evidence for the default effect. Study 1 further revealed that this default effect was statistically equivalent under cognitive load. Study 2 revealed that the default effect was not attenuated when participants deliberated upon their decision, but instead showed a main effect of deliberation. Together, this implies that default nudges are not dependent on elaborate processing in order to be effective, but that deliberation can in parallel lead to different choice outcomes.

Side Effects of Nudging: Evidence from a Randomized Intervention in the Credit Card Market

Abstract This paper studies the direct and indirect effects of nudging, by means of a field experiment with a financial management platform in Brazil. Reminders for upcoming credit card payments reduced credit card late-payment fees by 14%, but increased overdraft fees in checking accounts by 9%. The unintended effect is concentrated in users with a history of overdraft use. These users experienced a net increase of 5% in total fees, while the rest experienced savings of 15%. The results provide clear insights for nudge design: like any policy action, nudges can have side effects, and one size may not fit all.

Reducing student burglary victimisation using the Nudge approach

This paper presents a study employing nudge psychology to reduce burglary of properties in the twelve most victimised streets in the UK City of Durham. A bespoke survey was developed first, to raise residents’ awareness of the high burglary rate, and second, to nudge them into reflecting on their burglary prevention behaviour. The findings showed that a majority of residents were not previously aware that they were residing on one of 12 most burgled streets in the City of Durham and that they stated that they would adopt more security conscious burglary prevention behaviours as a consequence of taking part in the survey. Fewer burglaries were recorded in the 12 streets for the period during and soon after administration of the survey, compared with police recorded burglaries for the same 12 streets for the same period of months in the 2 years previously. Although the limitations of the present paper are readily acknowledged, as police reported no other burglary-related interventions (including targeted ‘burglar operations’) in the period in question, it is tentatively suggested that the administration of the survey had indeed produced a positive ‘nudge effect’ on residents’ burglary prevention behaviours. The paper concludes with some suggestions for how police might use the data gathered from this approach to develop future burglary prevention initiatives.

Nudging to Reduce the Perceived Threat of Coronavirus and Stockpiling Intention

Prior research in behavioral economics has examined the effects of nudging and the diverse aspects of choice on individuals’ decisions and behaviors. Based on this premise, the current research offers a novel and timely view by examining how communication messages in public service advertisements (PSAs) can alter the perception of threat under uncertain situations such as the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic. This article investigates the role of additional relative statistical information on the perception of threat and stockpiling intention. First, we examine whether there is a reduction in the perceived threat of the coronavirus if information about the potential severity of an alternative threat (car accidents) is activated, when compared to offering only statistics on the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, which is known as COVID-19. Furthermore, we established the mediating role of a perceived threat in consumers’ decisions and behavior in times of severe crisis. This suggests that organizations and policymakers can influence individuals by increasing or decreasing their perceived level of threat depending on the desired outcomes (e.g., respecting authorities’ recommendations or avoiding stockpiling). This research offers a deeper understanding of how consumers can be “nudged” toward desired behavior in the context of public health and safety.