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The aim of this piece is to clarify three key matters: (a) the extent to which, as citizens, our volition is impacted as a result of the implementation of nudges in the health domain; (b) the efficacy of educational campaigns as a means of behavioral change relative to other nudges as well as typical regulatory instruments; and (c) the empirical, theoretical, and practical details that ethical debates concerning nudges might want to consider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nudges are psychologically informed tools designed to promote behavioral change in order to improve health and well-being. In this review, we focus on three areas of concern: theory, evidence base, ethics. We begin by discussing the problems arising from the theoretical framework that nudges are based on and propose an alternative framework that helps to classify nudges into two types (Type 1 and Type 2). We then evaluate the evidence for nudges in the health domain, drawing attention to critical empirical issues (internal and external reliability) that explain the limited evidence base for their effectiveness. The review ends with an examination of the implications of the theoretical and empirical issues we discussed with respect to current debates regarding the ethics of nudge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]