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The Psychology behind Nudging

Birsu Obalar
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June 4, 2021

It is no secret that our choices are highly influenced by our environment. One way that environments can "manipulate" your choices towards healthier/better directions is through nudges. The order of products in the supermarket, having smaller plates than usual, the phrasing of advertisements (9 out of 10 people stopped smoking, when will you stop too?). You have probably noticed most of these examples before, but did not know that they have a special name or purpose.


This article will cover the following points:

  • What is nudging and how does it work?
  • Types of Nudging
  • Real-Life Examples of Nudging


What is Nudging and how does it work?

We make decisions everyday and every second. Some are conscious, whereas others are unconscious. Nudging[7] includes interventions that change specific characteristics or positioning of objects, actions or stimuli within small environments which aim to alter health-related behaviour. Most nudges we will talk about are regard  the topic of health. However, there are also nudges that cover workplace behaviours. For example, the print machines can be frustrating in some organisations. Apparently this is done on purpose, so that people use the printers less[4]. It should be noted that the current definition of nudges as well as their ethical implications are  still very debated on.

So how does nudging work? Psychologists in this field propose a mechanism that is known as the dual process model. It suggests that decision-making is grounded in two types of systems known as system 1 and system 2[7]. System 1 is the older, automatic, uncontrolled, low effort, quick and unconscious part of the decision-making. In contrast to this, system 2 is concerned with controlled, conscious, analytical and high effort based decisions. To illustrate, speaking in your mother tongue is an action of system 1, whereas planning a trip to somewhere you are not familiar with is an action of system 2. The nudging idea works to adapt to our unconscious thinking instead of changing the way we think[7].

Furthermore, some researchers suggest that there are two systems within automatic decision making (System 1) [7]. One of them is called the habit system which functions to create habits and adapt to stimulus-action links. For example, if you always get rewarded  every time you score high on your exams, after a while you will expect to always get rewarded. This system creates both motor habits and mental habits (e.g. heuristics, mental shortcuts). The second subsystem is named as the impulsive system. The name is self explanatory, but it mostly is responsible for giving reactions to certain stimuli (e.g. being disgusted when you see broccoli, because you don’t like it). This system can either encourage or discourage you from working towards goal-directed and habit-related behaviors[7].

How effective are Nudges? A study[2] that reviewed 35 articles and concluded that nudges that focus on physical activity were effective. The context of the investigated studies differed a lot from railway stations, airports to shopping malls. Another study [5]found that only 62% of 300 studies had effective results. How effective the nudging practice is depends on context, choice architecture tool (e.g. what type of nudging was used), and how it was applied. Therefore, we can say that overall nudging is quite effective.


Types of Nudging

There are a few ways to nudge people. They are known as MINDSPACE (Messenger, Incentives, Norms, Defaults, Salience, Priming, Affect, Commitments and Ego).

Table 1 explains the definition of each nudge [3]


Here we provide a table that explains the meaning of each type. Here are some examples to illustrate how these can work:

  • Incentives →  rewarding specific types of behavior instead of punishing people; having a savings account to quit smoking. Putting money into it every month as long as the person does not smoke[3].
  • Default → Automatically getting enrolled in programs (e.g. organ donation programs, you need to deny it or you are accepted as the automatic choice)[6]. We choose to “go with the flow.”
  • Commitment → Using apps that are tailored towards keeping you going are an example of this. Same goes for people who are trying to quit smoking[3].




Real-life Examples of Nudging

This type of voting bins are used to reduce cigarette litter around the streets. They found that this has decreased cigarette litter by at least 46%[1].

When you are given smaller plate sizes, this causes people to eat more efficiently and decreases food waste significantly. This can also be seen from the third video in additional resources[1].

This one comes from Sweden, where it increased stair usage up to 66%. The video of these stairs can be found in additional resources[1].

After reading about nudges, do you recognise any from your own country? If you do, please share it with us in the comments section!

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Additional resources

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References:


  1. Bikker, Y. (2019, August 15). The 7 Most Creative Examples of Habit-Changing Nudges. Medium. https://medium.com/swlh/the-7-most-creative-examples-of-habit-changing-nudges-7873ca1fff4a.
  2. Forberger, S., Reisch, L., Kampfmann, T., & Zeeb, H. (2019). Nudging to move: a scoping review of the use of choice architecture interventions to promote physical activity in the general population. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 16(1), 1-14.
  3. Going with the grain: influencing behaviour through public ... Institute for Government . (2010, March 2). https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/MINDSPACE.pdf.
  4. Haak, T. (2020, November 9). 15 Examples of Workplace Nudging. HR Trend Institute. https://hrtrendinstitute.com/2020/11/09/15-examples-of-workplace-nudging/.
  5. Hummel, D., & Maedche, A. (2019). How effective is nudging? A quantitative review on the effect sizes and limits of empirical nudging studies. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 80, 47-58.
  6. Sunstein, C. R. (2018). Nudging: a very short guide. In The Handbook of Privacy Studies (pp. 173-180). Amsterdam University Press.
  7. Vlaev, I., King, D., Dolan, P., & Darzi, A. (2016). The theory and practice of “nudging”: changing health behaviors. Public Administration Review, 76(4), 550-561.



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