Nudge theory

See also: Nudge (book)

Nudge theory (or Nudge) is a concept in behavioural science, political theory and economics which argues that positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions to try to achieve non-forced compliance can influence the motives, incentives and decision making of groups and individuals, at least as effectively – if not more effectively – than direct instruction, legislation, or enforcement.

Nudge theory's most celebrated influences include the formation of a British Behavioural Insights Team, often called the 'Nudge Unit', at the British Cabinet Office, headed by Dr David Halpern[1] and US President Barack Obama's appointment of Cass R. Sunstein as administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.[2][3][4] In Australia, the government of New South Wales established a Behavioural Insights community of practice.

Definition of a nudge At the heart of nudge theory is the concept of nudge. The first formulation of this term and associated principles was developed in cybernetics by Dr James Wilk before 1995 and described by Brunel University academic D.J. Stewart as "the art of the nudge" (hereafter referred to as micronudges[5]). It also drew on methodological influences from clinical psychotherapy tracing back to Gregory Bateson, including contributions from Milton Erickson, Watzlawick, Weakland and Fisch, and Bill O'Hanlon (.[6] In this expression, the nudge is a microtargetted design geared towards a specific group of people, irrespective of the scale of intended intervention.

However, the concept came to prominence in a variant form in the scientific work of Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, who defined their concept as:

A nudge, as we will use the term, 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. To count as a mere nudge, the intervention must be easy and cheap to avoid. Nudges are not mandates. Putting fruit at eye level counts as a nudge. Banning junk food does not.

In this mode, drawing on Behavioral Economics, the nudge is a more generally applied influencer of behaviour. One of nudges' most frequently cited examples is the etching of the image of a housefly into the men's room urinals at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, which is intended to 'improve the aim'.[7]