What is in a nudge: putting the psychology back in nudges

Abstract

Background: Nudges are broadly defined as subtle rearrangements of a choice context that gently suggest the preferred choice. Their increasing popularity has attracted attention from researchers, policy makers, and practitioners alike. However, many debates have been raised, principally regarding the ethics of using nudges in the public health domain and regarding the clarity of the original definition, with multiple amendments and types of categorizations suggested. Moreover, most suggestions have mainly focused on the ethical aspects of nudges and ignored its psychological components. Discussion: Elaborating on the original definition, we provide a blueprint of six elements that can be used to define, categorize, and design nudging interventions: (1) a deliberate intention to influence, (2) exploiting an automatic and non-conscious processing, (3) freedom of choice, (4) goal dependence and motivation independence, (5) approach orientation, and (6) choice specificity. This empirical and psychological definition of nudges has important implications for researchers and practitioners, and also provides insights into many debates surrounding nudges, like ethical appropriateness, effectiveness, and public approval.