Nudging intro Flashcards
What is nudging?
A concept in behavioral change that subtly alters the environment or context in which people make decisions with the aim of influencing their behavior.
What is the common denominator in other behavior change methods?
- They are costly
- They last long
- People need to be open for change
- People are consciously aware of trying to change
Why is nudging different than other behavior change methods?
It relies on different systems with which we think.
What are the systems that we rely on in making a good nudge?
- System 1: the fast and impulsive system; can be described as using heuristics to solve a decision
- System 2: the slow and rational system; can be described as using algorithms to solve a decision.
Which system do we use more often?
System 1
Which words are often used interchangeably in literature to describe the same thing? And under which system do they fall?
Mental shortcuts, heuristics, and cognitive biases
–> they usually fall under the category of system 1 thinking.
Why do we use shortcuts?
We use it to perceive the world and to perceive/judge ourselves ( = you overestimate yourself and underestimate others).
Which shortcut might come up when you perceive the world?
Cheerleader effect: assessing the average attractiveness in the group instead of assessing all the individual faces. –> everyone gets the same attractiveness.
Which shortcuts might come up when we judge ourselves?
- IKEA effect: people estimate themselves to be just as good as an IKEA employee when building IKEA furniture –> if you put it together yourself, you give it more value.
- Planning fallacy: the tendency to overestimate your own ability to get from A to B, and underestimating others doing the same.
What is the GI Joe effect?
The misguided notion that knowing about a bias is enough to overcome it. You don’t always know that you have a bias (again overestimating yourself).
Are biases a bad thing?
Depends, there are cognitive biases that may lead to suboptimal choices (bad/unhealthy decisions), but if we use those biases for good –> nudging.
What are the aspects of a good nudge?
- Alters behavior
- Not forbidding options
- Not costly
- No change in effort
What is choice architecture?
The way the choice is presented.
What critique is there on nudging?
It is an unconscious, unaware process steering people’s behavior. That might feel like taking away freedom.
What does Libertarian Paternalism say?
Don’t forbid choices.
- paternalism –> leading to a certain choice
- Libertarian –> all the choices are still there
What types of choices should we nudge?
Choices where the relationship between the choice and the outcome are unclear.
- choices with a delayed (positive) effect
- choices that are difficult
- choices that are infrequent
- choices that have poor feedback on the outcome of the choice
- choices that have an unclear outcome
What makes a good nudge? What should you have in mind when designing a choice architecture?
- Non-complex choice structure –> make choice-outcome clear
- Understand mapping –> understand people’s choice-outcome coupling
- Defaults –> make use of laziness shortcuts
- Give feedback –> make choice result clear
- Expect error –> by foreseeing shortcuts people will use
- Salient incentive –> make the desired choice clearly rewarding
Why is a nudge context dependent?
Every nudge that you design needs its own thought process, diving into what the choice is, what the motivation for the choice is and what heuristics take place.
