Nudging – a small push to change behaviour

Most people want to do the right thing: they want to recycle, choose green options when shopping, exercise regularly. But everyday life gets in the way – above all the thousands of decisions we must make every day. Will you get out of bed or snooze a little, what are you going to wear, what are you going to eat for breakfast, are you going to have coffee, are you going to drive to work or take the bike, what are you going to do first at work, and what are we going to eat for dinner tonight?

“People want to do the right thing, but we make so many different decisions every day that our brain has to ration its energy,” explains Penny Bergman, Head of the Perception and Design unit at RISE. “Whenever the brain can run on ‘autopilot’ and do what it always does, it will, because we simply don’t have the capacity to make conscious decisions in every single situation.”

This is where nudging comes into play. It essentially means giving people a small push in the right direction by making it easy for the brain to choose a good option instead of a bad one.

“Nudging involves making it easy to do the right thing. It’s not about providing financial incentives, it’s about adapting the environment around people so that it simplifies rather than complicates the behaviour we want to promote.”

Helps our brain make decisions

A classic example is the office printer. If it is set to print single-sided, most people will print single-sided, despite it being worse for the environment, since we can’t be bothered to think through the decision every time we want to print something.

“On the other hand, if the printer is set to double-sided as default, our brains won’t have to make a decision and will automatically do the right thing.”

But while nudging may sound simple, there is a lot to consider before getting started.

“First, you need to consider what people want. Nudging isn’t about persuading someone to adopt a new opinion, instead it’s about helping them do what they already want to do, either for themselves, such as exercising more, or for society, such as recycling more.”

The risk is that people are either not influenced or feel manipulated.

“That’s why it’s so important to be clear about the intent behind nudging, to show that we’re doing this because we want to achieve a certain goal, not to make money or trick people.”

Huge potential for change

Properly employed, nudging can have major effects. Through something as simple as using smaller plates, many buffet restaurants have gotten people to take less food, thereby reducing waste. By placing the vegetarian option at the top of the menu, meat consumption is reduced, and so on.

“It’s effective, but it requires a lot of knowledge of human behaviour, otherwise it can go awry. Like when a municipality tried to get smokers to extinguish their cigarettes in specific places, but instead they smoked more because they were reminded of cigarettes.”

RISE helps with tests

To implement nudging that really achieves goals, Bergman’s advice is to get external help and first test in on a small scale – and these are two things that RISE helps businesses and organisations with.

“We have people who are specialists in human behaviour and perception, which allows us to help with everything from tests to behavioural studies and surveys on how people function, both as individuals and in groups.”