How Do Consumers Feel About Nudging? Using Environmental Nudges to Understand Real World Preferences
Nudges have greatly influenced research in consumer decision making in economics, marketing and health psychology, among other domains, since the release of the groundbreaking book in its name in 2008. The idea that changing the features of the environment can change someone’s behaviour however, can be used positively and negatively. Although nudges by definition are supposed to be non-coercive and just guide consumers to predictably behave in a certain way, the ethics of using this kind of intervention can be called into question. This study brings forward the consumer perspective. There were two parts to this research: a pilot and then a subsequent study that refined our data collection and analysis. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions, and were either shown a nudge about eating less meat or not based on their assignment. After the experimental portion of the study, the participants were debriefed about what nudges were, and how they were used in this study. They were then presented with a questionnaire that included questions about the ethics of nudging. These data were then collectively analysed to inform our understanding of the consumer’s perception of the ethics of nudging behaviour.