Editing Behavioral economics (section)

== Nudge theory ==
{{Main|Nudge theory}}
'''Nudge''' is a concept in [[behavioral science]], [[political theory]] and [[economics]] which proposes designs or changes in decision environments as ways to [[Social influence|influence]] the behavior and [[decision making]] of groups or individuals—in other words, it's "a way to manipulate people's choices to lead them to make specific decisions".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=What is behavioral economics? {{!}} University of Chicago News |url=https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/what-is-behavioral-economics |access-date=2022-06-01 |website=news.uchicago.edu |language=en}}</ref>

The first formulation of the term and associated principles was developed in [[cybernetics]] by James Wilk before 1995 and described by Brunel University academic D. J. Stewart as "the art of the nudge" (sometimes referred to as micronudges<ref>{{citation | author=Wilk, J. | title=Metadebates on Science | chapter=Mind, Nature and the Emerging Science of Change: An Introduction to Metamorphology | year=1999 | editor1=G. Cornelis|editor2=S. Smets|editor2-link= Sonja Smets |editor3=J. Van Bendegem | volume=6 | pages=71–87 | publisher=Springer Netherlands | doi=10.1007/978-94-017-2245-2_6| isbn=978-90-481-5242-1 }}</ref>). It also drew on methodological influences from clinical [[psychotherapy]] tracing back to [[Gregory Bateson]], including contributions from [[Milton Erickson]], [[Paul Watzlawick|Watzlawick]], [[John Weakland|Weakland]] and Fisch, and Bill O'Hanlon.<ref>{{citation | author1=O'Hanlon, B.|author2=Wilk, J. | year=1987 | title=Shifting contexts : The generation of effective psychotherapy. | publisher=New York, N.Y.: Guilford Press.}}</ref> In this variant, the nudge is a microtargeted design geared towards a specific group of people, irrespective of the scale of intended intervention.

In 2008, [[Richard Thaler]] and [[Cass Sunstein]]'s book ''[[Nudge (book)|Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness]]'' brought nudge theory to prominence.<ref name=":1" /> It also gained a following among US and UK politicians, in the private sector and in public health.<ref>See: [http://www.shponline.co.uk/features-content/full/cpd-article-nudge-nudge-think-think Dr. Jennifer Lunt and Malcolm Staves] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120430212840/http://www.shponline.co.uk/features-content/full/cpd-article-nudge-nudge-think-think |date=2012-04-30 }}</ref> The authors refer to influencing behavior without coercion as [[libertarian paternalism]] and the influencers as choice architects.<ref name="speak" /> Thaler and Sunstein defined their concept as:<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Thaler|first1=Richard|title=Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness|last2=Sunstein|first2=Cass|year=2008|isbn=978-0-14-311526-7|publisher=Yale University Press.|pages=6}}</ref>

{{blockquote|A nudge, as we will use the term, is any aspect of the [[choice architecture]] that alters people's behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives. To count as a mere nudge, the intervention must be easy and cheap to avoid. Nudges are not mandates. Putting fruit at eye level counts as a nudge. Banning junk food does not.}}

Nudging techniques aim to capitalise on the judgemental heuristics of people. In other words, a nudge alters the environment so that when heuristic, or System 1, decision-making is used, the resulting choice will be the most positive or desired outcome.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Campbell-Arvai|first1=V|last2=Arvai|first2=J.|last3=Kalof|first3=L.|title=Motivating sustainable food choices: the role of nudges, value orientation, and information provision|journal=Environment and Behavior|year=2014|volume=46|issue=4|pages=453–475|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272996812|doi=10.1177/0013916512469099|s2cid=143673378}}</ref> An example of such a nudge is switching the placement of junk food in a store, so that fruit and other healthy options are located next to the cash register, while junk food is relocated to another part of the store.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kroese|first1=F.|last2=Marchiori|first2=D.|last3=de Ridder|first3=D.|title=Nudging healthy food choices: a field experiment at the train station|journal=Journal of Public Health|year=2016|volume=38|issue=2|pages=e133–7|url=https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/article-pdf/38/2/e133/6869936/fdv096.pdf|doi=10.1093/pubmed/fdv096|pmid=26186924|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 2008, the United States appointed Sunstein, who helped develop the theory, as administrator of the [[Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs]].<ref name="speak">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2008/aug/22/davidcameron.conservatives|title=Speak 'Nudge': The 10 key phrases from David Cameron's favorite book|author=Andrew Sparrow|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=2008-08-22|access-date=2009-09-09 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/article4330267.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120093555/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/article4330267.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 20, 2008|title=Why Barack Obama and David Cameron are keen to 'nudge' you|newspaper=[[The Times]]|author=Carol Lewis |date=2009-07-22|access-date=2009-09-09 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/features/839676/nudge-nudge-meet-the-cameroons-new-guru.thtml|title=Nudge, nudge: meet the Cameroons' new guru|magazine=[[The Spectator]]|author=James Forsyth|date=2009-07-16|access-date=2009-09-09|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124222449/http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/features/839676/nudge-nudge-meet-the-cameroons-new-guru.thtml|archive-date=2009-01-24}}</ref>

Notable applications of nudge theory include the formation of the British [[Behavioural Insights Team]] in 2010. It is often called the "Nudge Unit", at the British [[Cabinet Office]], headed by [[David Halpern (psychologist)|David Halpern]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk/about-us/|title=Who we are |website = The Behavioural Insights Team}}</ref> In addition, the [https://nudgeunit.upenn.edu/ Penn Medicine Nudge Unit] is the world's first behavioral design team embedded within a health system.

Nudge theory has also been applied to [[business management]] and [[corporate culture]], such as in relation to [[Environment, health and safety|health, safety and environment]] (HSE) and human resources. Regarding its application to HSE, one of the primary goals of nudge is to achieve a "zero accident culture".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rydermarsh.co.uk/pdfs/SHP.0112.pdf|title=Cast No Shadow|website= Rydermarsh.co.uk|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171010050856/http://www.rydermarsh.co.uk/pdfs/SHP.0112.pdf|archive-date =10 October 2017|last = Marsh|first = Tim|date = January 2012}}</ref>

=== Criticisms ===

Cass Sunstein has responded to critiques at length in his ''The Ethics of Influence''<ref>{{Cite book|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=TlvWDAAAQBAJ|page=8}} |title=The Ethics of Influence: Government in the Age of Behavioral Science|last=Sunstein|first=Cass R.|date=2016-08-24|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-14070-7|language=en}}</ref> making the case in favor of nudging against charges that nudges diminish autonomy,<ref>{{cite report |last=Schubert|first=Christian|date=2015-10-12|title=On the Ethics of Public Nudging: Autonomy and Agency|location=Rochester, NY|ssrn=2672970 |type=unpublished manuscript}}</ref> threaten dignity, violate liberties, or reduce welfare. Ethicists have debated this rigorously.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Barton|first1=Adrien|last2=Grüne-Yanoff|first2=Till|date=2015-09-01|title=From Libertarian Paternalism to Nudging—and Beyond|journal=Review of Philosophy and Psychology|language=en|volume=6|issue=3|pages=341–359|doi=10.1007/s13164-015-0268-x|issn=1878-5158|doi-access=free}}</ref> These charges have been made by various participants in the debate from Bovens<ref>{{Cite book|title=Preference Change|last=Bovens|first=Luc|date=2009|publisher=Springer, Dordrecht|isbn=9789048125920|series=Theory and Decision Library|pages=207–219|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-90-481-2593-7_10|chapter = The Ethics of Nudge|s2cid=141283500 }}</ref> to Goodwin.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Goodwin|first=Tom|date=2012-06-01|title=Why We Should Reject 'Nudge'|journal=Politics|language=en|volume=32|issue=2|pages=85–92|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9256.2012.01430.x|s2cid=153597777|issn=0263-3957}}</ref> Wilkinson for example charges nudges for being manipulative, while others such as Yeung question their scientific credibility.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yeung|first=Karen|date=2012-01-01|title=Nudge as Fudge|journal=The Modern Law Review|language=en|volume=75|issue=1|pages=122–148|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2230.2012.00893.x|issn=1468-2230}}</ref>

Some, such as Hausman & Welch<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hausman|first1=Daniel M.|last2=Welch|first2=Brynn|date=2010-03-01|title=Debate: To Nudge or Not to Nudge*|journal=Journal of Political Philosophy|language=en|volume=18|issue=1|pages=123–136|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9760.2009.00351.x|issn=1467-9760}}</ref> have inquired whether nudging should be permissible on grounds of ([[Distributive justice|distributive]]{{clarify|date=February 2018}}) justice; Lepenies & Malecka<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lepenies|first1=Robert|last2=Małecka|first2=Magdalena|date=2015-09-01|title=The Institutional Consequences of Nudging – Nudges, Politics, and the Law|journal=Review of Philosophy and Psychology|language=en|volume=6|issue=3|pages=427–437|doi=10.1007/s13164-015-0243-6|s2cid=144157454|issn=1878-5158}}</ref> have questioned whether nudges are compatible with the rule of law. Similarly, legal scholars have discussed the role of nudges and the law.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Alemanno|first1=A.|last2=Spina|first2=A.|date=2014-04-01|title=Nudging legally: On the checks and balances of behavioral regulation|journal=International Journal of Constitutional Law|language=en|volume=12|issue=2|pages=429–456|doi=10.1093/icon/mou033|issn=1474-2640|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Kemmerer|first1=Alexandra|last2=Möllers|first2=Christoph|last3=Steinbeis|first3=Maximilian|last4=Wagner|first4=Gerhard|date=2016-07-15|title=Choice Architecture in Democracies: Exploring the Legitimacy of Nudging - Preface|location=Rochester, NY|publisher=Hart Publishing|ssrn=2810229}}</ref>

Behavioral economists such as Bob Sugden have pointed out that the underlying normative benchmark of nudging is still [[homo oeconomicus|homo economicus]], despite the proponents' claim to the contrary.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sugden|first=Robert|date=2017-06-01|title=Do people really want to be nudged towards healthy lifestyles?|journal=International Review of Economics|language=en|volume=64|issue=2|pages=113–123|doi=10.1007/s12232-016-0264-1|issn=1865-1704|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Recent scholarship has raised concerns about the use of vibrational nudges in digital consumer environments, suggesting that haptic feedback—such as subtle mobile phone vibrations—can increase purchasing behavior without conscious awareness. The study questions whether such subliminal tactics cross ethical boundaries by manipulating impulse control in ways that blur the line between persuasion and coercion.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hampton |first1=William |last2=Zhao |first2=Xin |last3=Goldsmith |first3=Kelly |date=2024 |title=Subtle Haptic Cues Increase Online Purchasing by Activating Reward Mechanisms |journal=Journal of Consumer Research |doi=10.1093/jcr/ucaf025}}</ref>

It has been remarked that nudging is also a [[euphemism]] for [[psychological manipulation]] as practiced in [[social engineering (political science)|social engineering]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/olin_center/papers/pdf/Sunstein_809.pdf|title=NUDGING AND CHOICE ARCHITECTURE: ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS|author=Cass R. Sunstein|website=Law.harvard.edu|access-date=11 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-01/berg-a-nudge-in-the-right-direction/6988786|title=A nudge in the right direction? How we can harness behavioural economics|newspaper=ABC News|date=1 December 2015}}</ref>

There exists an anticipation and, simultaneously, implicit criticism of the nudge theory in works of Hungarian social psychologists who emphasize the active participation in the nudge of its target (Ferenc Merei<ref>{{cite journal|last =MÉREI|first= Ferenc |year =1987|title = A perem-helyzet egyik változata: a szociálpszichológiai kontúr |trans-title=A variant of the edge-position: the contour social psychological |language = hu|journal = Pszichológia |volume =1|pages = 1–5}}</ref> and Laszlo Garai<ref name="Garai">{{cite book|last =Garai|first = Laszlo|chapter= The Double-Storied Structure of Social Identity|title = Reconsidering Identity Economics|publisher = Palgrave Macmillan|location= New York|date = 2017|isbn = 978-1-137-52561-1}}</ref>).