Remember last month when we talked about nudges?
Well, 'Sludge’ is a behavioral economics term for anything that causes friction or is performed with negative intentions. Where nudge psychology promotes the outcomes you want, sludge works by demoting the outcomes you don’t want.
Think about how easy it is to opt-in for some services – often, you can subscribe with a single click of a CTA. But, when it comes to opting out, suddenly, there’s a flurry of forms to fill out, phone calls to make, and hours on hold. This is sludge in practice. As the name suggests, sludge isn’t pretty, but it can effectively secure a customer base.