The nudge

Gently coaxing brains to make better decisions

What's a nudge?

Persuasive patterns are all about nudging.

Nudge theory was defined by Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein. The whole idea is that brains can be encouraged unconsciously to make better decisions by being gently coaxed in a particular direction.

Importantly, nudges are not limiting or restrictive. They can easily be ignored by a person without causing them hassle or economic costs. This means that individuals still have freedom of choice while being encouraged to make healthier, more conscious and better decisions.

Nudges are key instruments in every behavioral scientist's toolkit. In fact, governments around the world have their own dedicated Nudge Units who are responsible for helping businesses and individuals improve decision making.

There are currently 13 Nudge Units across 13 countries around the world - from Japan to Canada.

Nudge (behavioral science)
to gently influence someone's decision without restricting their power to choose.

“A nudge is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives”

- Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness

Nudge anatomy

There are several different types of nudge. Let's take a look at each, and how you can use it for yourself.

Mindful nudge

This nudge's goal is to encourage people to be more conscious of their decision-making process. It might be simply to ask them to justify their choice, or analyze any snap decisions.

Mindless nudge

This nudge is designed to go under the radar. Mindless nudges target subconscious behavior and attempt to change it without attracting attention.

Encouraging nudge

Encouraging nudges target sustainable and responsible decisions. They are built around the idea of encouraging people to make decisions that might not have immediate gratification but are beneficial long-term.

Discouraging nudge

Discouraging nudges are used on cigarette packaging. They are intended to dissuade people from making potentially damaging or harmful decisions. They attempt to draw attention to the decision being made.

Self-boost nudge

These are some of the most gentle nudges, which encourage individuals towards decisions that they wanted to make anyway. This might be a notification from an exercise app to reach a certain health goal.

Activating nudge

These are firmer nudges that encourage someone to make a decision they were unlikely to make otherwise.

The fly sticker nudge

A great example of nudging in action is the urinal fly. Cleaners at Schipol airport in Amsterdam were trying to cut down on cleaning costs and increase hygiene in the urinals in particular.

They decided to place fly stickers in each of the urinals. They aimed to nudge people to aim for the stickers and reduce the amount of spillage. This is based on the instinctive reaction to want to expel a pest, resulting in a cleaner bathroom.

The nudge was a huge success, and urinal fly nudges are now used all over the world, from London to Singapore. Urinalfly.com states that these inventions keep bathrooms up to 85% cleaner.

The social energy nudge

Reminding people of how others have acted in decision-making processes can help steer their decision.

This is the strategy EON followed to nudge customers to reduce their energy usage. They sent out letters to their customers letting them know how much they were using compared to their closest neighbors. When people heard that their neighbors were using less energy than them, they were likely to decrease their usage to match their neighbors. A phenomenon similar to FOMO, this makes the most out of herd mentality - how we tend to behave like those around us.