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Research in marketing, psychology, economics, and decision making has long examined what people choose, when people choose, and why people choose. But almost no research has examined how long people consume their choices. Here, we examined an asymmetry between choosing an option and consuming it. Under the aegis of nudges, we conducted two randomized longitudinal experiments on how long people consumed a choice that was incentivized vis-à-vis a decoy effect, default effect, and compromise effect. We found that these nudges influenced choosing and consuming in opposite directions: Participants were more likely to choose the nudged option; however, they consumed it less compared to participants who chose an identical non-nudged option. Our research thus demonstrates that nudges could lead people to consume a nudged option less after choosing it, illuminating the potential for future research to examine the unexplored area of longitudinal, post-acquisition, post-nudge effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although failures and other experiences can capture attention and motivate organizations to learn and improve, this knowledge is not always retained over time, leaving some organizations dangerously prone to repeat the same mistakes repeatedly. We adapt theory on the attention-based view—and specifically on attentional engagement and vigilance—to shed new light on this process. While prior research has examined how competing events may draw attention away, our theory leads us to consider the circumstances that will motivate employees to maintain attention on learning from failure that has already occurred. Our framework examines the conditions that preserve attention to past failures by increasing the perception that related issues exist elsewhere, serving as continuing reminders of or cues about the failure when attention begins to drift away. We find support for related hypotheses involving a failure's complexity, the firm's culpability, and the ongoing use of routines related to those involved in the failure. Our findings contribute to the attention-based view by developing theory about attentional engagement and vigilance and by emphasizing the conditions that can keep attention focused on, rather drawn away from, past failure. We also contribute to efforts to examine knowledge depreciation and forgetting in more depth in organizational learning theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a randomized field experiment, this study compares the economic effects of two categories of nudges—self-assurance- and pressure-based interventions—on consumers' purchase and return behaviors. In contrast to pressure-oriented nudges, such as quantity scarcity, time scarcity, and social persuasion, self-assurance nudges are intended to facilitate the validation of product choice and style/size characteristics as well as the self-assurance-grounded justification of the purchase. The findings reveal that self-assurance nudges designed to help consumers make better choices have both short-term (high sales) and long-term (few product returns) benefits. Although pressure-driven nudges offer slightly higher short-term benefits (high sales), they eventually engender unfavorable long-term outcomes (high product returns) for consumers and online retailers. Finally, using return-adjusted net sales as performance measures, the authors find that self-assurance-based nudges are as effective in stimulating purchase as those that capitalize on scarcity and social pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores how a new relation of production—the shift from human managers to algorithmic managers on digital platforms—manufactures workplace consent. While most research has argued that the task standardization and surveillance that accompany algorithmic management will give rise to the quintessential "bad job" (Kalleberg, Reskin, and Hudson, 2000; Kalleberg, 2011), I find that, surprisingly, many workers report liking and finding choice while working under algorithmic management. Drawing on a seven-year qualitative study of the largest sector in the gig economy, the ride-hailing industry, I describe how workers navigate being managed by an algorithm. I begin by showing how algorithms segment the work at multiple sites of human–algorithm interactions and how this configuration of the work process allows for more-frequent and narrow choice. I find that workers use two sets of tactics. In engagement tactics, individuals generally follow the algorithmic nudges and do not try to get around the system; in deviance tactics, individuals manipulate their input into the algorithmic management system. While the behaviors associated with these tactics are practical opposites, they both elicit consent, or active, enthusiastic participation by workers to align their efforts with managerial interests, and both contribute to workers seeing themselves as skillful agents. However, this choice-based consent can mask the more-structurally problematic elements of the work, contributing to the growing popularity of what I call the "good bad" job. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While engagement has enjoyed an abundance of academic and practitioner attention recently, few studies have examined engagement from the perspective of end users utilizing products and brands at work. In acknowledgement of the important role end users play in B2B sales and service ecosystems, the current study applies both social exchange and social identity theories to illuminate the process through which B2B end user engagement develops. By using scenarios with random assignment – an under-utilized approach in sales research – our results suggest that the perceived interactivity of supplier firm activities moderates the relationship between cognitive engagement and behaviors such that it nudges end users toward proactively advocating for the supplier firm brand. Moreover, the supplier firm activity is even more effective when a salesperson personally introduces the initiative to end users. Hence, with intentional and interactive connection, salespeople can influence end user engagement behaviors and add value to the sales process, a key insight for supplier firms. Finally, we explore two key drivers of end user engagement: end user work identity and need to belong. A better understanding of how and why end user engagement and subsequent behaviors develop will help salespeople connect more effectively with end users and ultimately drive more sales. These contributions meaningfully increase our understanding regarding contextual influences of end user engagement within the B2B sales arena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mergers have the potential to give firms access to more data from which to draw insights about consumers. This may help firms to better discern which consumers are price insensitive or captive, or exhibit behavioural biases, that they can exploit by charging them higher prices or nudging them towards higher priced options. Based on recent case precedent, we believe that the transfer or sharing of data or techniques in mergers involving price-discriminating firms may be sufficient for meeting the requirement of merger-specificity without there needing to be an increase in market power. Recent local case precedent also provides insight into when mergers impacting on just a small group of consumers are likely to matter. It suggests that the competition authorities in the country should be more concerned where consumers are vulnerable and where access to the services/products is particularly important to this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the evolution of the French government's policy concerning Huguenot mobility by analyzing legal petitions, primarily passport requests, submitted by nouveaux convertis (new converts) and rémigrés (returning Huguenot refugees) from the Revocation period to the Regency of the duke of Orléans. While the French state closely scrutinized the passport applications of nouveaux convertis and rémigrés , local officials increasingly recognized the practicality of easing harsh restrictions on Huguenot mobility to curb their emigration to Protestant countries and their resistance to conversion efforts. Huguenot families also carefully crafted their petitions, strategically considering familial connections, financial concerns, and the necessity of conversion for obtaining passports. The intersection of family, money, and conversion, as manifested through these passport narratives, shows us how interactions between state actors and passport petitioners nudged the government toward a moderation of the severe Revocation policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many researchers have studied the effects of ability grouping on students' academic self-concept due to its critical importance for students' educational choices and trajectories. However, the available evidence is almost exclusively correlational, the results are inconsistent, and it is thus unclear how ability grouping may influence students' academic self-concept. This study applies causal inference methods to understand the mechanisms underlying the effects of math ability grouping on students' math self-concept. Using a quasi-experimental design and following students who transitioned from elementary school (Grade 6) to middle school (Grade 7) with or without ability grouping (N = 1,660, 90% White, 53% female), we investigated whether between-class math ability grouping impacts seventh graders' formation of their math self-concept through comparative processes (social and dimensional comparisons) and objective performance information. Through propensity score weighting and average marginal effect estimation, we found that high-grouped students reported lower math self-concepts than high-achieving ungrouped students, and low-grouped students reported higher math self-concepts than low-achieving ungrouped students at the end of Grade 7. Average-achieving students attending schools with a between-class grouping policy showed stronger dimensional comparison effects than their ungrouped counterparts. The effects of prior math performance on math self-concept were nonsignificant for high- and low-achieving students, regardless of their grouping status. These findings advance our understanding of how pervasive school practices, such as ability grouping, shape students' self-relevant motivational beliefs. Educational Impact and Implications Statement: The adverse effects of academic tracking on students' academic self-concept are one of the main reasons educational psychologists argue against this practice, but the available, primarily correlational, evidence is inconclusive. This study used causal inference methods in a sample of students transitioning from an untracked elementary school to a middle school with or without between-class ability grouping practices. Between-class ability grouping was linked to enhanced math ability self-concepts of low-performing students but diminished math ability self-concepts of high-performing students due to social comparisons with peers. Furthermore, between-class ability grouping seems to nudge students to compare their strengths and weaknesses across math and verbal domains, potentially influencing early specialization in one of these domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In six randomized online experiments with 2,647 medical doctors we test whether – depending on the choice architecture – physicians engaged in prescribing decisions in public organizations fall prey to systematic error (i.e. bias) and make significantly different choices when faced with the same clinical case (i.e. level noise). Results show that experts tend to make irrational choices that are influenced by outgroup bias, social comparison, past behaviour, confirmation bias, loss aversion, equivalence framing, and asymmetric dominance. We also find evidence of significant level noise, that is, between-prescriber variability, with the distribution of responses differing remarkably across experimental arms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues Addressed: Research suggests visual nudging techniques can subtly encourage healthier consumption. Two experiments explored the effect of four visual primes for nudging drink choices from a vending machine display. Methods: Participants (17–25 years) were randomly assigned to view vending machine advertising posters containing pictorial nudges of water, soft drink, general health (runner), or a text‐only control, for nudging vending machine choices. Participants then selected an item from a vending machine display containing drinks only (Experiment 1; n = 164), or both drinks and snack foods (Experiment 2, n = 684). Results: In both experiments, nudging condition predicted beverage choice. Specifically, the water image nudged healthier beverage choices in both experiments. However, there was no effect on food choice in Experiment 2. Furthermore, in both experiments, liking and habitual consumption of chosen items were also significant predictors of choice, but condition predicted beverage choice over and above these. Conclusion: A water prime may be an effective means of encouraging healthier beverage choices in a vending machine environment. So What?: Findings have the potential to inform strategies for encouraging healthier beverage choices from vending machine environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation of biodiversity is above all else an exercise in human persuasion. Human behavior drives all substantive threats to biodiversity; therefore, influencing it is the only path to mitigating the current extinction crisis. We review the literature across three different axes to highlight current evidence on influencing human behavior for conservation. First, we look at behavioral interventions to mitigate different threats, from pollution and climate change to invasive species and human disturbance. Next, we examine interventions focused on different stakeholders, from voters, investors, and environmental managers to consumers, producers, and extractors. Finally, we review delivery channels, ranging from mass and social media to interventions involving changes to the physical environment or carried out in person. We highlight key gaps, including the lack of scale and robust impact evaluation of most interventions, and the need to prioritize behaviors, overcome the reproducibility crisis, and deal with inequality when designing and implementing behavior change interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how people's tendency to avoid action, known as "omission bias," influences their financial decisions, specifically in the context of debt repayment to the UK government. Using a randomized controlled trial, we communicated with individuals who owed money, employing two distinct message framings. The omission‐framed message suggested that nonresponse was seen as inadvertent, while the commission‐framed message treated nonresponse as a deliberate choice. Analyses of nearly 40,000 responses revealed that repayment rates almost doubled with commission framing, reaching 23.2%, as opposed to 12% under omission framing. This reframing strategy generated over $1.4 million in additional revenue, underscoring the considerable real‐world impact of understanding and leveraging the omission bias in shaping financial behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of non-binding guidelines (nudges) on citizens' compliance with law has been studied theoretically and empirically in behavioral law and economics. Less is known about the impact of non-binding guidelines on the behavior of law enforcement agents and prosecution. Our work fills this gap. We study whether non-binding guidelines affect law enforcement and prosecution practices when the guidelines are not necessarily aligned with legal actors' preferences. Our empirical analysis focuses on the impact of the adoption of a low priority initiative (LPI) on police and prosecutor behavior in Los Angeles County. Our results suggest that following the introduction of an LPI there is a rise in the number of misdemeanor arrests, but not in the rate that misdemeanor marijuana offenses are dismissed. We conclude that law enforcement preferences have a counterbalancing effect given that police officers may have strong punitive preferences. Prosecutors do not appear to respond to non-binding guidelines as evidenced by no change in the rate of dismissing cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Understanding farmer and consumer behavior is essential to the successful implementation of behavior change interventions. The purpose of this study is to summarize existing research, provide a comprehensive overview of nudge interventions, and identify important trends in behavioral agricultural economics. Research on nudge interventions can help policymakers encourage farmers and consumers to change their behavior in desired direction like switching to organic agriculture or eco-labeled products and promote innovation in sustainable agriculture. Design/methodology/approach: The paper contains a bibliometric analysis of nudge research in general and agricultural economics as well as a literature review of the 53 empirical studies on nudge interventions between 2003 and 2023. Findings: The frequency of nudge research in all research fields and in agricultural economics has increased over the years. This study summarizes nudge interventions that can be used by farmers and consumers on a variety of agricultural economic issues. Information, social norms, and social comparison as nudge interventions are most prominent in the publications, while green nudges have not been researched to a greater extent. Originality/value: This study provides a comprehensive overview of nudge research in agricultural economics with potential for theoretical and policy implications. It highlights potential nudge interventions among farmers and consumers that can be applied in practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most traditional marketers avoid using mindful consumption (MC) despite fast-rising consumer mindfulness, MC-advocation by trade magazines, and the success of tech-savvy, MC-oriented start-ups. We identify two gaps for this divergence—varying conceptions of MC and lack of a valid MC scale. Conception clarity and a valid MC scale are important for advancing managerial practice. We first integrate current, varying conceptions to identify three MC dimensions: Awareness, Caring, and Temperance. These signify awareness of self, society, and the environment (SSE), caring for the effects of consumption on SSE, and temperance in consumption. We then develop, refine, and validate the MC scale using 10 studies. We also assess the MC nomological network and scale robustness across genders, ages, occupations, and incomes. Marketers can use MC scale for product innovation, differentiation, and diversification. Policymakers can use this to nudge people towards MC-oriented sustainable behavior. This research opens multiple avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate how much the average grade of students enrolled in introductory macroeconomics changes when the professor sends a reminder email. We utilize observational data to implement a difference-in-differences strategy and identify the plausibly causal effect of email nudges on the student's grade. The professor's reminder email boosts low-performing student grades by 22–28 points per 50 points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioplastics serve as good alternatives to conventional plastics, but their production and adoption globally remain generally low. This paper sought to determine the consumer preference for bioplastics due to the urgent need for an invention on plastic pollution in Nigeria. This was achieved by employing green nudges on consumers' choice experiments on bioplastic products. The study used a sample size of 327 respondents employing the snowball sampling approach. We discovered that there was high preference heterogeneity among respondents probably due to cultural diversity and attitudinal differences. Moreover, respondents preferred to stick with their preferences instead of opting for a change in their decisions. This may have been because Nigerians are known to be brand loyalists. Our results showed that the Text treatment group thought that bioplastic labels were innovative and useful compared to the control group. This perception was probably because of the concise text on the advantages of bioplastics. We conclude that although respondents were exposed to various green nudges, there was little effect of the green nudges on their purchasing decisions. We recommend that further studies be carried out to understand why price effect was not effective in Nigeria against theory and as compared to developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The police sergeant, or equivalent supervisor, is the glue that binds police units together, assigns workloads, and distributes organisational power from ‘above’ to ensure that those in the field play fairly and by the rules. Yet very little empirical research has been undertaken to examine the work of sergeants or consider how these roles impact the ability of police and their partners to manage critical incidents, including complex disasters. Drawing on a case study of disaster policing during Australia’s Black Summer bushfires, this paper examines how police sergeants with two distinct emergency management roles leveraged their authority, relationships, and knowledge to support the effective management of this incident. Using composite accounts, it illustrates how both sergeants drew upon and adapted traditional understandings of their role to negotiate the perceived deficiencies of command-and-control and networked features of complex disaster management systems. The case studies illustrate how the officers’ positionalities (organisationally, geographically, and systemically) enhanced their sensemaking abilities during the crisis, and they utilised their recognised authority, relationships, and soft skills to inform, nudge, and influence a wide range of stakeholders. The paper reveals that police sergeants may be uniquely positioned to assist with the coordination of increasingly complex disaster management assemblages at a time when the neoliberal state’s ability to even ‘steer’ these effectively is increasingly called into question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online gambling is relatively easier to access compared to traditional one, so it can pose specific risks to individuals such as causing isolation, lack of interruption and dissociation. Intermittent interactions that require cognitive process can interrupt a task and capture the attentional focus which can help to break the dissociative state of players while playing. This study proposes an approach of using digital tasks to interrupt the dissociation of players during online gambling. We investigated the effectiveness of the approach through mixed methods where participants (N = 50) were invited to the computerised lab experiment and randomised to five conditions. Participants received digital tasks as an interruption while playing online slot gambling and their response time to the interruptions was measured. After the play, participants completed the Jacob's Dissociation Questionnaire, and the Acceptability Questionnaire (both Likert scale and open-ended questions). The analysis revealed that there was a significant main effect of the interruptions in terms of response times, and a significant interaction between the interruptions and the digital tasks. Five main themes were generated after Thematic Analysis of the qualitative data: (1) Distraction, (2) Awareness, (3) User experience, (4) Considerations for design and (5) Considerations for technology. Digital tasks could be potentially useful tools to interrupt players' dissociation during online gambling and support behavioural awareness and change towards more conscious and responsible gambling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of strategic psychology‐based marketing techniques for increasing public support for conservation is poorly understood. We assessed how such techniques affect support for tropical rainforest restoration with a controlled online experiment with 1166 nationally representative residents of the United Kingdom. We tested whether support increased when adding ecosystem service (ES) framings to typical nongovernmental organizations’ (NGOs) biodiversity‐focused messages that emphasize benefits to UK residents or people living near the tropical restoration site and a dynamic social norm nudge that emphasized increasing popularity of environmental restoration. We considered how respondents’ psychological traits (nature connection, self‐efficacy, psychological benefits of supporting charities, awareness of environmental degradation in the Global South, and climate change skepticism) influenced responses. Outcomes included respondents’ reported advertisement sufficiency, sympathetic attitudes, behavioral support, and financial support. The study population typically found advertisements sufficient and exhibited sympathetic attitudes and financial, but not behavioral, support. Younger people exhibited greater conservation support than older respondents. Messages framed solely on biodiversity conservation were as effective as those highlighting additional ES benefits received by UK residents and people near the tropical restoration site. This suggests that framing around ESs, rather than nature's intrinsic value, may not strengthen public support for conservation. The dynamic social norm nudge had perverse effects. It reduced perceived social norms and most outcome variables. Alternative dynamic norm nudges warrant testing, but our results support research suggesting dynamic norm nudges can be ineffective when associated with activism, challenging their use by conservation NGOs. Psychological benefits of supporting charities and perceived self‐efficacy increased support for advertisements, highlighting the benefits of including impact statements relating respondents’ support to specific outcomes. Climate change skepticism decreased support, whereas nature connection and perceived static social norms increased it, highlighting the need to increase nature connection and pro‐environmental social norms to elevate public support for conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers a complete overview of the normative framework provided by Italian law and self-regulation regarding the stewardship of asset managers and asset owners. In particular, it focuses on the relationship between hard law and soft law by outlining overlaps and divergences under five different perspectives: the scope of application, the integration of ESG factors, the extension to debtholder stewardship, the type of collaborative engagement promoted, and the problem of enforcement. Building on extant authoritative scholarship, the paper argues that in order to achieve a dynamic synergy between the two layers of the regulatory framework and avoid useless overlaps, Italian soft law should highlight the specificities of the national corporate governance landscape by nudging institutional investors (including foreign ones) into a set of behaviours that is country-specific, offer guidelines to integrate ESG factors, stimulate stewardship for debtholders, further develop platforms for collaborative engagement, and advance a complementary enforcement strategy to the one provided by hard law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the term "behavioural fatigue" became the centre of policy debates in Great Britain. These debates involved deciding when to go into lockdown and whether behavioural interventions could be effective. Behavioural interventions can only succeed where people's Capabilities, Opportunities, and Motivations to perform target behaviours are supported. Our retrospective data analyses examine the relationships between people's Capabilities, Opportunities, Motivations, and Behaviours, i.e., adherence to lockdown guidelines. Our cross-sectional analyses include 17,962 unique participants in Great Britain who completed a survey over the initial 30 days of the first lockdown (April 2020). We examine trends in responses to each scale and then the relationships between the scales using Granger's causality test with tests for stationarity and cointegration. A mixture of increasing and decreasing trends was identified for Capabilities and Opportunities. Decreasing trends were identified for Motivation and Behaviour. Granger's causality tests found that Capability forecasts Opportunity and Behaviour and that Motivation forecasts Opportunity. The discussion reiterates that to realise and maintain Behaviour changes, policies surrounding people's Capabilities, Opportunities, and Motivations must continue to support target behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intertemporal decision making is the process by which individuals make judgments or choices regarding outcomes that occur at different times. Although intertemporal decision making is widely investigated, most studies explore it in terms of individual decision making, while neglecting group decision making, which holds more practical significance and adaptive value. This study recommends adopting a "two-process" approach that uses self-assessment questionnaires, audiovisual recordings, and visual decision-making tools to quantify interpersonal interaction processes and information processing in group intertemporal decision-making settings. In this way, studies can reveal the psychological and theoretical mechanisms of the group intertemporal decision-making process. At the level of interpersonal interaction processes, such an approach can identify the differential mechanisms between group and individual intertemporal decision making. In terms of information processing, it can reveal the mechanisms of the decision-making process in group intertemporal decision making. The findings of such work can provide a basis for interventions and nudges that encourage more visionary group intertemporal decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nudges are widely used and a broad literature documents that they successfully affect individual behavior. However, in most settings where nudges are needed to change collective action, teams – not individuals – determine outcomes. Because team decision making is pervasive, learning whether nudges work with teams in social dilemmas is important, especially when formal enforcement is difficult. Here, we show that a nudge increases team cooperation by 14 to 16 percentage points in a social dilemma among fishing crews at Lake Victoria, Tanzania. The nudge is particularly effective when team decisions are made by a team member with leadership experience. Our findings are a proof of concept that expands the toolkit of empirical researchers and policy makers that address social dilemmas among teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mastery‐based assignments typically provide students with multiple opportunities to improve their performance, but getting students to take advantage of these opportunities is difficult. We report on the implementation of a two‐part series of nudges designed to improve students' engagement with and performance on mastery‐based assignments in high‐enrollment, introductory undergraduate courses. Students received one or two email‐based nudges for each assignment, providing both decision information and decision assistance. Delivered via email by a digital coaching system that provides tailored support to students, we evaluated the effectiveness of viewing versus not viewing these personalized nudges across introductory courses in mathematics, computer science and engineering over five terms at our large, research‐intensive university. We used multilevel modelling with a sample of 30,693 assignment scores nested within 79 assignments and 5349 undergraduate students to explore the relationship between students' viewing the nudges and their scores while controlling for performance in other courses and students' baseline proclivities to read email from the coaching system. We find that viewing versus not viewing nudges is significantly related to improved outcomes. Viewing the first of the two‐part nudge series is associated with a 3% increase in scores on average. Importantly, we found a significant interaction with prior academic performance such that students with the lowest average academic performance across all courses are predicted to benefit the most—up to 9%—from nudging. Positive impacts are observed in most courses where nudges were implemented and are found to be most impactful for later versus earlier assignments within a term. We discuss the implications of these results for supporting students' decision‐making within mastery‐based assignment schemes and suggest future research for tailored nudges to support student success. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Nudges are known to be broadly effective, but heterogeneity is observed especially in education where the research base is relatively limited.Mastery‐based grading is an alternative approach to grading that, among other features, emphasizes learning through an explicit feedback cycle of struggle and revision without penalty.What this paper adds This study assesses the effectiveness of personalized nudges in the context of mastery‐based grading in undergraduate STEM courses.We examined the efficacy of viewing versus not viewing nudges in the real learning settings of three STEM courses enrolling more than 5000 students.We found the nudges to be effective overall, correlated with improvements of approximately 3% in students' assignment scores and most impactful for students with the lowest average academic performance.Implications for practice and/or policy Nudging by email or text message has a low overhead cost and yet may provide materially significant gains in students' assessment scores.Nudges can be effectively targeted to specific subsets of students and tailored based on students' prior and concurrent learning analytics data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use administrative data from a large public university to study employee responses to mandatory retirement saving, which represent a policy alternative to nudges. In response to a substantial increase in mandatory saving, we observe full crowd-out of voluntary saving for a subset of low-contributing low earners and high-contributing high earners, but otherwise little crowd-out for most employees. On average, only 30 percent of the mandatory contributions are offset by lower voluntary contributions. Our results suggest that mandatory retirement saving is likely to increase total retirement saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the emerging problem of drug- and alcohol-impaired e-scooter riding. Fifteen government and e-scooter hire firm professionals from four jurisdictions (Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, Norway) described and assessed countermeasures designed to deter drug- and alcohol-impaired riding. Government professionals were from local/municipal councils, state and national departments of transport, and policing organisations. We used Braun and Clarke's (Qual Res Psychol 18(3):328–352, 2020.https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2020.1769238) six-step method of thematic analysis and the NVivo qualitative analysis software system to analyse the interviews. All participants said traditional police enforcement is ineffective because laws and regulations are underdeveloped, and police have limited resources for patrols. Thematic analysis grouped countermeasures into four themes: enforcement, education, encouragement, and the road environment. Third-party policing initiatives show promise. For example, local/municipal councils required e-scooter hire firms to ban e-scooters from areas that sell alcohol through GPS-based geofencing. However, geofencing and other regulatory controls do not extend to privately owned e-scooters, a growing sector in the market. Other countermeasures used a combination of education and behavioural change techniques (BCTs) to encourage compliance. For example, innovative nudge methods (a type of BCT) have potential to change dangerous riding behaviours by targeting riding norms. However, participants said some people will continue to ride under the influence of alcohol or drugs either because they are addicted to substances or exhibit high-risk behaviours. Government should therefore adopt laws and regulations that build a more forgiving road environment, based on the safe system approach, to limit injuries when crashes occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Government agencies use leadership training programs to improve human capital and public service provision. However, existing research ignores how limited cognitive capacity and task overload in the aftermath of leadership training programs can reduce the transfer of learning into action. Integrating insights from behavioral science on choice architecture with research on leadership development, we propose a leadership development model with "just-in-time" implementation nudges. In a field experiment involving 226 Danish public managers and their 4,442 employees, we found that employees perceived their managers as exhibiting more transformational leadership behaviors following our leadership development intervention. The intervention combined classroom training with just-in-time implementation nudges that targeted goal-oriented development dialogues. We also found that these dialogues mediated the treatment effect on transformational leadership behavior. Our results highlight the need to consider choice architectural approaches in designing leadership development efforts in the public sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining insights from nudge theory and research into prosocial behavior, we study how messages emphasizing the positive impact of flu vaccination may increase vaccination intentions among professionals in a public healthcare setting. Using an online randomized controlled trial with 13,785 healthcare professionals in Italy, we demonstrate that the intention to vaccinate and to promote vaccination in the workplace are higher when subjects are nudged (with a brief message) to reflect on the positive impact on others, namely their family and friends and especially their patients. In contrast, a nudge emphasizing personal benefits does not have a significant impact on the intention to vaccinate and only marginally increases intentions to promote vaccination in the workplace. But these patterns of results also varied across job types. We discuss how our study contributes to behavioral public administration theory and practice by demonstrating the potential of nudges to influence prosocial workplace behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organisations increasingly use digital nudges to influence their workforces' behaviour without coercion or incentives. This can expose employees to arbitrary domination by infringing on their autonomy through manipulation and indoctrination. Nudges might furthermore give rise to the phenomenon of "organised immaturity." Adopting a balanced approach between overly optimistic and dystopian standpoints, I propose a framework for determining the moral permissibility of digital nudging in the workplace. In this regard, I argue that not only should organisations provide pre-discursive justification of nudges but they should also ensure that employees can challenge their implementation whenever necessary through legitimation procedures. Building on Rainer Forst's concept of the right to justification, this article offers a way to combine contract- and deliberation-based theories for addressing questions in business ethics. I further introduce the concept of meta-autonomy as a capacity that employees can acquire to counter threats of arbitrary domination and to mitigate organised immaturity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can firms encourage consumers to adopt smartphone apps? The authors show that several inexpensive choice architecture techniques can make users more likely to enable important app features and complete app onboarding. In six preregistered experiments (n = 5,968) and a field experiment (n = 594,997), choice architecture interventions manipulating choice sequence, color, and wording of app adoption decisions dramatically increased app adoption. Across experiments, integrating multiple feature decisions into a single choice increased adoption. This integration effect emerges because it decreases decision noise and reduces the prominence of individual features, consistent with support theory. Changing colors to match habitual patterns commonly found in current digital interfaces appears to increase adoption by accelerating consumers' decisions. Finally, wording options as if enabling the app is the default response (even without changing the actual default) also increases adoption. These "defaultless defaults" may be particularly relevant in heavily regulated consumer domains, such as finance or health care. The effects generalized across different types of apps and were robust across subsamples varying in demographics, attitudes toward the apps, and political affiliation. These results suggest simple tools that marketing managers and app developers can use to increase app adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a parsimonious framework for evaluating the efficacy of different approaches for limiting the spread of misinformation. We use this framework and simulation studies to determine the evolution of truthful and fake messages on social media platforms and then investigate the following policy interventions: (1) our suggested approach of having the platform require senders of messages to also state their perceived (possibly incorrect) veracity of the message, (2) provide some accuracy nudge to increase the number of potential readers who can accurately identify fake messages, (3) have the platform flag fake messages, and (4) have the platform demote or down-rank fake messages. We find that when a significant number of senders are able to correctly identify the veracity of the message, the market can self-regulate under our suggested approach. If this is not the case, we find that augmenting our approach with any of the other approaches is effective in reducing the spread of misinformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do true cost campaigns (TCCs)—which display prices at the point of purchase that include social and environmental negative externalities—nudge consumers toward more expensive sustainable products? From a theoretical point of view, the answer is promising: Communicating true costs means introducing external reference prices that provide a benchmark for consumers to assess price acceptability. Showing true costs triggers a general reference to the price of sustainability, and the higher price of sustainable products becomes at least partially explained by their lower "hidden costs" (i.e., costs to compensate for all environmental and social impacts). In two empirical studies, we demonstrate that for TCCs to be effective, the hidden costs for the sustainable products must be lower than those for the conventional alternatives. Interestingly, under this condition, TCCs have an effect in markets characterized by a larger (study 1) and a smaller (study 2) green gap. In both studies, we find that increased perceived price fairness explains the effect of TCCs, as measured by the relative preference for the sustainable compared to the conventional product. In addition, we see that the price difference between the two products plays a significant role in forming this preference judgment, independent of other factors included in the model and especially independent of TCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libertarian paternalism is a weak form of paternalism that recommends nudges rather than bans, restrictions, or other strong interventions. Nudges influence people's choice by modifying contextual factors (the "choice architecture"). This paper explores the possibility of an epistemic analogue of libertarian paternalism. What I call "epistemic libertarian paternalism" is a weak form of epistemic paternalism that recommends "epistemic nudges" rather than stronger paternalistic interventions. Epistemic nudges influence people's beliefs and judgments by modifying contextual factors (the "epistemic choice architecture"). The main aim of this paper is to defend epistemic libertarian paternalism from the "irrationality problem", which I take to be the most urgent problem for epistemic libertarian paternalism; given how epistemic nudges work (i.e. they typically co-opt psychological biases), nudged beliefs are irrational. In response to the irrationality problem, I admit that nudged beliefs are often (not always, though) irrational, but insist that there are conditions in which epistemic nudging can be justifiable nonetheless. I will propose two conditions that are jointly sufficient for justifiable epistemic nudging: "Veridicality Condition" (which says that nudged beliefs are more likely to be true than non-nudged beliefs) and "Not-More-Irrationality Condition" (which says that nudged beliefs are not more likely to be irrational than non-nudged beliefs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Aim Design Method Results Conclusion Implication for the Profession and/or Patient Care Reporting Method Patient or Public Contribution To explore frail older adults' preferences and needs regarding mobile health (mHealth) exercise interventions in China. Additionally, it sought to identify the nudge strategies necessary for initiating and sustaining exercise behaviours among frail older adults.A qualitative study.The semi‐structured interviews were conducted between April and May 2024 from two communities in Changsha, China. The data were analysed using a deductive framework analysis aligned to nudge theory, and an inductive thematic analysis to gather relevant needs and preferences.This study involved 14 participants with pre‐frailty or frailty, aged 60–82 years (median age of 64 years). While participants were generally receptive to new technologies, lower levels of health literacy and competing priorities often hindered their participation. Three primary functionality requirements were as follows. (1) Profession engagement: tailored exercise prescription, professional and timely feedback and guidance; (2) personalised knowledge encompassing pain management, successful cases and inspiration; (3) beneficial, tailored, dynamic, fragmented, challenging exercise courses. Participants showed positive attitudes towards simplification nudges, gamification nudges, social nudges, trustworthy nudges, reminder nudges, economic nudges, feedback nudges and pre‐commitment nudges. Addressing privacy concerns was essential to build trust and acceptance among older adults.These findings emphasised the importance of designing mHealth interventions that address frail older adults' specific needs and preferences while incorporating effective nudge strategies to promote engagement and adherence. Future researchers should explore wearables, ChatGPT language models, virtual coaching assistants, exercise snack to further optimise the experience and analyse the effects of nudges in mHealth exercise interventions among older adults.Exercise systems or app development for frail older adults should meet three basic functionality and essential nudge strategies.The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) guidelines were used for reporting.Older adults' engagement and interview data contribute a lot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the early stages of the global COVID-19 pandemic, governments searched for effective means to rapidly disseminate information about how to prevent the disease and care for sick household members. In June 2020, the government of Kenya considered sending text messages, a behavioral nudging approach, to inform and persuade the public to practice home-based care for those who were infected. We conducted a randomized evaluation of simple informational messages compared to messages targeting personal and social benefits for those receiving the messages. We hypothesized that those that received messages tailored around social or personal benefit would be more likely to undertake the promoted behaviors of isolating if infected with COVID-19 and intending to care for an infected family member. While fear and perceptions of stigma were widespread, more than two-thirds of respondents in the control condition expressed an intention to care for an infected family member at home. Despite greater recall of the personal benefit message, which used reciprocity as its key behavioral lever, intentions to provide care at home and perceptions of stigma did not differ across study groups. Rather, capabilities such as wealth and having sufficient room at home were the key determinants. While text messages as behavioral nudges may be useful for some behaviors, policymakers should consider a broader range of tools for behaviors that are influenced by people's capabilities, since even low-cost interventions may crowd out the time and energy needed for other responses during an emergency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Behaviourally informed soft policies, such as nudges, have become popular in areas like health, environment, and energy use as cost-effective instruments to change behaviour and decision-making. However, the effectiveness of soft policies in the transport sector is modest at best. One reason for this relative ineffectiveness might be their one-size-fits-all nature, and personalizing soft interventions has been suggested to increase their effectiveness. The Trans-theoretical Model (TTM) suggests that people progress through five stages of behavioural change, from pre-contemplating a behaviour to maintaining the behaviour, and behavioural interventions could be designed for specific stages. However, it is not always feasible to conduct surveys to place people at different stages of the TTM. Methods: This paper explores whether it is possible to use multimodality data taken from a travel diary to place people at different stages of the TTM. The analysis uses an existing dataset from 826 respondents that includes self-reported TTM stages regarding cycling and data on multimodality. In the analysis, the multimodality data are used to allocate respondents to categories and assign them to TTM stages. The performances of the stage assignment approaches are evaluated using the self-reported TTM data and confusion matrices. Findings: The accuracy of the allocation of participants to TTM stages using multimodality data is approximately 75%. The accuracy is higher for early stages (pre-contemplation) and later stages (maintenance) of the TTM. A data-driven approach to dealing with multimodality data performs slightly better than an approach that relies on pre-defined categorization. Conclusion: The paper suggests that it will be possible in the future to personalise behavioural interventions according to the stages of the TTM even in the absence of self-reported survey data that classifies people to TTM stages if objective multimodality data are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Germline genetic testing is recommended for an increasing number of conditions with underlying genetic etiologies, the results of which impact medical management. However, genetic testing is underutilized in clinics due to system, clinician, and patient level barriers. Behavioral economics provides a framework to create implementation strategies, such as nudges, to address these multi-level barriers and increase the uptake of genetic testing for conditions where the results impact medical management. Methods: Patients meeting eligibility for germline genetic testing for a group of conditions will be identified using electronic phenotyping algorithms. A pragmatic, type 3 hybrid cluster randomization study will test nudges to patients and/or clinicians, or neither. Clinicians who receive nudges will be prompted to either refer their patient to genetics or order genetic testing themselves. We will use rapid cycle approaches informed by clinician and patient experiences, health equity, and behavioral economics to optimize these nudges before trial initiation. The primary implementation outcome is uptake of germline genetic testing for the pre-selected health conditions. Patient data collected through the electronic health record (e.g. demographics, geocoded address) will be examined as moderators of the effect of nudges. Discussion: This study will be one of the first randomized trials to examine the effects of patient- and clinician-directed nudges informed by behavioral economics on uptake of genetic testing. The pragmatic design will facilitate a large and diverse patient sample, allow for the assessment of genetic testing uptake, and provide comparison of the effect of different nudge combinations. This trial also involves optimization of patient identification, test selection, ordering, and result reporting in an electronic health record-based infrastructure to further address clinician-level barriers to utilizing genomic medicine. The findings may help determine the impact of low-cost, sustainable implementation strategies that can be integrated into health care systems to improve the use of genomic medicine. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT06377033. Registered on March 31, 2024. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06377033?term=NCT06377033&rank=1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carpooling is one solution to help reduce the negative externalities of solo driving. The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of incentives on solo drivers’ intention to carpool. A questionnaire survey was carried out among 1,329 participants, including 590 (38.39%) residents of the Paris metropolitan area who use a car to get to work. Modal choice estimates were modeled using multinomial logit and binomial logit econometric models for car drivers only. First, we analyzed the effect of non-financial incentives, such as nudges and trust in others during the carpooling trip. Second, we analyzed the effect of the combination of nudges with employer subsidies for sustainable mobility on the intention to carpool as a driver or passenger for the home-to-work (or home-to-school) commute. The results show that people aged 18–49, employees, and those with higher levels of education are more receptive to behavioral interventions such as nudges. Applying nudges in isolation is more effective at encouraging carpooling for commuting than combining nudges with employers’ subsidies for sustainable mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractGiven proper facilitation, pro-environmental behaviour in tourist destinations may spill over to the daily lives of tourists. Recent advancements in conversational artificial intelligence (AI) may lead to the emergence of more effective technology that will encourage people to become more environmentally friendly. However, limited research has been devoted to understanding the complexity of using such technologies for pro-social nudging. This study applies rigorous scale development procedures to test how advanced conversational AI, like chatbots, can be effective in encouraging pro-environmental behaviour spillover. The conceptual model introduces seven factors that predict people’s intention to use the chatbot and three factors that predict their intention to embrace the target behaviour. Performance expectancy and timing were the most significant in predicting the intention of individuals to adopt the technology. Efficiency and government support were the chief drivers of the intention to adopt pro-environmental behaviour. The findings suggest that although introducing a technology-mediated nudging mechanism can trigger people’s intention to behave pro-environmentally, other factors must be fulfilled in order to ensure sustained behaviour change in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A food environment intervention using nudge tactics was implemented at a hospital convenience store (CVS) in Tokyo to improve employees' eating habits. The objective of this study was to evaluate its effects on the urinary sodium-to-potassium ratio (Na/K), food intake, eating attitude, and behavior. Methods: Using a pre–post design; the intervention incorporated nudge tactics, healthier options, easy-to-pick food placement, and eye-catching information. We also used price incentives. The primary outcomes included changes in Na/K and sodium and potassium excretion assessed using spot urine samples at health checkups. Secondary outcomes were changes in staff food intake, eating attitude, and behavior which were assessed using questionnaire surveys. All outcomes were evaluated statistically. Furthermore, we investigated how the intervention led to outcomes using path analysis. Results: A total of 140 participant (52men and 88women) were analyzed. Significant changes were observed in Na/K (3.16 to 2.98 in median, p = 0.02) and potassium excretion (43.4 to 45.2 mmol/day in mean, p = 0.03). However, sodium excretion did not change significantly. The intake of fruits and dairy products increased with improved self-efficacy. The most influential factor for lowering Na/K and increasing potassium excretion was information from the CVS; purchasing "balanced meals" to lower Na/K and salads to increase potassium excretion were second. Conclusions: Food environment intervention using nudge tactics can improve staff's food intake and lower Na/K. Trial registration: Registration number: UMIN000049444 (UMIN-CTR). Date of registration: November. 7. 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Prior research has implied that promoting sustaining physical activity through nudges is challenging and boosting health literacy is important for the long-term establishment of behaviors. This study aimed to investigate the effects of commitment-based health application on step count and health literacy. Methods: A control experiment was conducted involving employees from companies located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Participants were divided into three groups: the commitment app group (utilizing a commitment-based application "Minchalle," where teams of around five members were randomly assigned to declare a target step count and report daily step count with pictures), the self-commitment group (individuals declaring a target step count and endeavoring on their own), and the control group (no intervention). Changes in step count and health literacy were examined over one month. Results: A total of 109 employees from 7 companies participated. The changes in step count were an increase of 893 steps for the commitment app group, 243 steps for the self-commitment group, and 178 steps for the control group, with a significant increase in the commitment app group compared to the control group. Regarding health literacy measures, there was significant progress in four items out of five for the commitment app group compared to the control group, and significant progress in one item for the self-commitment group compared to the control group. Conclusion: Communication within the app teams, such as commitment, sharing photos of their goal achievements and provide encouraging comments to others, functioned as social nudges, suggesting the potential for an immediate increase in step count and long-term behavioral reinforcement through improved health literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Tax penalty collection is a challenge faced by tax administrations worldwide. • We nudge taxpayers in Indonesia to pay their tax penalties on time. • Simplification by providing billing codes outperforms the other nudge letters. • Emphasising deterrence is also effective in increasing timely payment. • The nudge letters prove to be a cost-effective strategy for changing behaviour. We conduct a randomised controlled trial in Indonesia to evaluate the effect of three intervention letters on tax penalty compliance behaviour. Over 10,000 individual taxpayers are randomly assigned to receive either a deterrence, information, or simplification letter, or no letter. Our results indicate that simplification, which makes paying a penalty less burdensome administratively by providing billing codes to pay the penalties, yields the highest probability of timely settlement, increasing compliance by 32% compared to the control group. Deterrence also positively impacts penalty compliance, increasing timely settlement rates by 27%. The least effective intervention is the information letter. Although associated with a 10% increase in timely settlement, this effect is statistically insignificant at the 10% confidence level. Our results suggest that strategic messaging by tax authorities in developing countries can be a cost-effective tool for improving tax penalty payment compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In times of public health crisis, such as the COVID‐19 pandemic, there is a critical need for interventions that emphasize group unification. Such interventions may motivate individuals to adhere personally and collectively to health advice, enhance national solidarity, and reduce conspiratorial beliefs among members—particularly among those who may express skepticism or distrust towards science. Across three experimental studies (Ntotal = 1604) conducted online (Experiments 1 & 3) and in a real‐world setting (Experiment 2) in Ireland and Kosovo, we assessed participants' trust in science (i.e., the extent to which they trust in science and scientists) and exposed them to one of three conditions regarding COVID‐19 health advice: compliance (i.e., the majority of ingroup members comply with the health advice), non‐compliance (i.e., the majority of ingroup members do not comply with the health advice), or no advice (i.e., control condition with no health advice information). Overall, the results showed that participants with low (vs. high) trust in science intended to adhere to health advice, expected ingroup members to do the same, experienced greater national solidarity, and reduced their conspiracy beliefs in the compliance condition compared to noncompliance or control conditions. Participants' feelings of national solidarity explained the observed effects. In sum, this set of experimental studies shows that compliance with health advice during a health crisis not only enhances national solidarity but also promotes adherence to health behaviors and reduces conspiracy beliefs, especially among those initially skeptical of science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a framed lab experiment, we test whether the efficiency of a pro-environmental informational nudge (disclosure of the socially optimal level of investment) depends on subjects' environmental preferences and on the type of network they belong to. We observe a higher coordination on the socially optimal profile of investments in the circle network (everyone has the same number of neighbors), but only with the most sensitive subjects to environmental matters. In star networks (some have more neighbors than the other members), we find evidence that the nudge can even induce a decrease in the level of investments for the least sensitive subjects. Thus, nudges should be aimed at individuals with high environmental sensitivity in networks favoring uniform behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]