Title: Nudge: How Small Changes Can Significantly Influence People’s Choices – Effectiviology
Headings: Nudge: How Small Changes Can Significantly Influence People’s Choices
Nudge: How Small Changes Can Significantly Influence People’s Choices
Table of contents
Examples of nudges
Types of nudges
The psychology of nudging
Negative nudges
How to use nudges
How to respond to nudges
Ethics and criticisms of nudging
Summary and conclusions

Content: People will often stick with the default option that they’re presented with, so setting a certain option as a default increases the likelihood that people will pick it. For example, making people organ donors by default can increase the rate of organ donations, compared to requiring people to opt-in in order to become donors. Creating a psychological anchor. A psychological anchor is an initial piece of information that people rely on strongly when making subsequent judgments and decisions. For example, a charity soliciting donations can create a psychological anchor by telling donors that “most people donate $20”, in order to nudge people to donate more money than they would otherwise. Changing the ease of choosing certain options. This can involve either making a good option easier to choose, or a bad option harder to choose. For example, to encourage people to eat healthier, a cafeteria can place healthy foods in convenient locations and unhealthy food in less convenient locations. Changing the salience of certain options. This can involve either making a good option more noticeable, or a bad option less noticeable.