What is nudge theory? Thanks for asking!

Nudge theory was developed back in 2008 by future Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler, along with legal scholar Cass Sunstein. The concept is part of behavioural economics, and uses positive reinforcement to influence groups and individuals. Nudges are small changes to an environment which are simple and inexpensive to put in place. Some of the most well-known examples of nudge theory are rather amusing. The image of a housefly is etched onto each of the urinals in the men’s restrooms at Amsterdam Schiphol airport. 

But, what happened in Amsterdam?

It’s not always easy to aim without a target right?! Well, with this in mind, the housefly experiment was carried out at Amsterdam Schiphol, one of Europe’s busiest airports. Back in the 1990s, the image of a fly was etched on urinals in the airport’s toilets. Simply due to having some form of target caused men to instinctively concentrate on their aim. This in turn reduced unwanted splashes from the urinals. Restroom users rejoiced, as did the Dutch airport’s management, who saw their clean-up costs reduced by 80%! In this specific case, the goal was to use a game to encourage greater cleanliness, without encroaching on users’ freedom of choice. It’s a kind of hidden paternalism, which turned out to be more effective than forceful measures like punishment or guilt-tripping. As it turns out, humans are often less rational creatures than we might think. Another nudge technique involves using painted illusions of speed bumps on pedestrian crossing markings, causing approaching drivers to slow down. These techniques are inspired by behavioural science, a field in which public authorities have only invested fairly recently. Meanwhile marketers have been testing out such ideas for a long time.

Are we saying nudges are a form of manipulation? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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