Inciting instead of coercing, ’nudges’ prove their effectiveness

Nudges make it possible to act on the 'architecture of choice' of individuals. (c) UNIGE  - A team from the UNIGE demonstrates that certain soft incentive techniques, known as «nudges», are effective in getting people to change their behaviour. To get through challenges such as the pandemic or the climate change, citizens must change their habits and behaviors. But how can this be achieved without resorting to coercive measures? The answer to this question may be the «nudges» that have been gaining popularity over the last decade. By making small changes in our environment, these interventions aim to encourage changes in our behaviour, while preserving our freedom of choice. From adding informative labels to reorganising the food offer in a cafeteria, the overall effectiveness of these interventions has now been demonstrated by a scientific team from the University of Geneva. Their results can be found in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . Developed by the American economist Richard Thaler in the late 2000s, the theory behind «nudging» theory is based on the principle that our choices are not only determined by our ability to reason, but are also influenced by certain biases such as our emotions, our memories, the opinions of others or the configuration of our environment.