Small Changes: Using the Nudge Theory to Shape People’s Behavior
How is the nudge theory effective in changing human behavior?
Have you ever heard of the Urinal Fly? The Urinal Fly was used because the cleaning manager at the Schiphol Airport, during the 1990s, was trying to reduce “spillage” around the men’s urinals. “The idea was to give people something to aim at… And aim they did.” By putting a picture of a fly in the urinal, it is easier for people to aim at the fly, which reduced the spilling. It had an astonishing result that the “spillage” was reduced by eighty percent afterward and the total bathroom cleaning costs were also reduced by eight percent (Ingraham). This solution is an example of a concept in behavioral psychology called the Nudge Theory.
Dr. Richard Thaler, a Nobel Prize recipient, is the father of the Nudge Theory. The Nudge theory is a small subtle change in the environment that has a large scale impact on human behavior and decisions. So, what is so special about this theory and how does it work? Usually when we think about convincing people, like saving water. We would put out posters, advertisements, and warnings. We all know that we have to save water, but some of us still choose to throw away bottled water when they are not finished because it is inconvenient. They want things to be easier. The Nudge Theory is effective in changing human behavior because it took advantage of this fact that people want things to be easier. So, by making one of the choices easier for people to access, people will choose the easier option.
For decades, urinal designers have been trying to find a solution to the spilling around the urinals. They tried “splashback screens that let urine in but not out, rubber floor mats, curiously shaped urinals in which the stream ricochets off concave walls into rather than out of the urinal, and ribbed urinals” but either of them works as well as the urinal fly. But why a fly? Flies are small and annoying. “If it’s something that you consciously don’t like, you’re more likely to pee on it.” If it is something pretty or something disgusting, people would either avoid aiming at it or not even use it. “A fly seems to be a compromise: something that is universally disliked, but that doesn’t elicit fear and make people not want to stand there” (Evans-Pritchard). Flies are just enough for people to “play” with it and not strong enough to discourage people from using the urinal. “The flies do the same work as overbearing restroom attendants without any element of forced coercion. They make it easier for people using the urinals to make the right choice.” Nudge is effective because “Nudges don't attempt to make it impossible to do the wrong thing, but rather they make it easier to do the right thing” (Ingraham). Later on, Urinal Flies begun to show up in restrooms all over the world.
When people are grocery shopping, they often buy things that they did not plan to buy, such as a lot of high-sugar food. They do not realize, they just subconsciously bought them. Americans have a serious obesity problem, a few people think about health and body weight when they are grocery shopping. Nowadays, there are many signs with words like: “The average American eats 11.3 kg of sweets each year” or “1 in 3 Americans in OBESE.” The problem with these signs is that they highlight the frequency of undesired behaviors. When people see these signs, they might think that: “Oh, most of the other people are just like me, I am not doing anything outrageous.” Instead of putting out these signs, we need a way to remind people about their weight when they are shopping. By putting a mirror in the grocery store, “the sight was meant to be a splash of reality in the otherwise anonymous la-la land of food shopping, a reminder of who he was, how he looked and perhaps what he had come in for.” People, especially females, are really sensitive about their body weight, and they are the majority of the customers in supermarkets. The mirror reflects the body shape of the customers and the customers would think about it when they are shopping. Without this “splash of reality,” people do not realize the “truth.” Through research, another way to nudge people into buying more healthy food is to put green arrows on the ground that led the customers to the healthy food section. Even though people might not realize the arrows on the ground, they followed them. Tim Taylor, the product director for Lowe's said that “I watched when the arrows were down, pointing left, and that’s where people went: left, 9 out of 10” (Moss). The Nudge Theory works a lot more effective than signs and warnings.
Does visibility and convenience influence candy consumption? This is a research by Brian Wansink about candy and secretarial weight gain. The researcher collected data from secretaries working in offices where “in each condition, the participants were given a closed container holding 30 chocolate candy ‘kisses.’ In the first condition, the container was placed on top of the desk, where it was visible and convenient. In the second condition, the container was placed in the participant’s desk drawer, where it was convenient but not visible. In the third condition, the container was visible but inconveniently placed on a shelf two meters away so that the participant was required to leave the desk to obtain the candy” (Painter et al. 237). It turns out that the sample of secretaries that have candy right under the desk gained more weight than the other sample, where they put candy on another table—simply a few feet away. The visibility and the convenience of the chocolates had a fairly large impact on how many chocolates were consumed. This may also have the same effect to eat healthier, more utilitarian foods. People who are on diet or need to control the amount of sugar consumed can make their candy and junk food more invisible and inconvenient to access. On the other hand, put healthy food such as fruits and vegetables more visible, people can easily grab and eat them. The Nudge Theory is just this simple and effective. Everyone has a lot of things going on in their life, by putting thing more visible, it reminds them of things they easily forget.
The Nudge Theory can be also used in reducing water waste. Consumption of bottled water is increasing worldwide, which has also led to more pollution. During a Summer School in Beijing, the bottled water provided to each student were placed right in front of each seat. Quite often I could see, most of the students did not finish the whole bottled water and the opened bottled water were left in the classroom after every single class. After moving to another classroom for the next class, some students opened up another bottle, did not finish and left in the classroom again. It’s such a huge waste, so I was wondering how can I change about this behavior. Influenced by Nudge Theory, I studied one nudge that might reduce the waste of bottled water. As a pre-test, I measured, over two days, the consumption of bottled water when that water was placed on every student desk. As a post-test, I then placed the water outside the classroom, where it was still easily accessible to students, but less so. This manipulation revealed that people were less likely to consume water when it was slightly less physically accessible.
These examples can show how the Nudge Theory is effective in daily life. By putting a fly in the Urinal can reduce the spilling, by putting mirror and arrows and mirror in the store can lead people to the healthier food section, by making food invisible and inconvenient can reduce candy consumptions, and by putting bottled water on a separate table can reduce water waste. “By knowing how people think, we can make it easier for them to choose what is best for them, their families and society. And people have a strong tendency to go along with the status quo or default option” (Vernekar).
Annotated Bibliography
Evans-Pritchard, Blake. “Aiming To Reduce Cleaning Costs.” Works That Work, 2013, https://worksthatwork.com/1/urinal-fly
This source talks about the urinal fly in the men’s bathroom and the Nudge Theory. This source provide the psychology of men when they are using urinals. They like to aim at thing that they do not like but not necessary scary like a fly.
Ingraham, Christopher. “Analysis | What's a Urinal Fly, and What Does It Have to with Winning a Nobel Prize?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 Oct. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/10/09/whats-a-urinal-fly-and-what-does-it-have-to-with-winning-a-nobel-prize/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b48f5a6b141f.
This source provides examples of how the Nudge Theory is used in daily life. This is the most famous examples that is related to the Nudge Theory. By putting a fly in the urinal, it reduce the the time to clean up, and the money to reconstruct the bathroom.
Moss, Michael. “Nudged to the Produce Aisle by a Look in the Mirror.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 27 Aug. 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/dining/wooing-us-down-the-produce-aisle.html.
This source provides examples of the Nudge Theory. It also provides the reason why Nudge Theory is important and why should we care about it. By putting mirror in the grocery stores, people look at themselves and realized that they need to eat healthier. And by putting arrows in supermarkets can lead people to buy in the more healthy sections.
Painter, James E, et al. “How Visibility and Convenience Influence Candy Consumption.” Appetite, vol. 38, no. 3, 2002, pp. 237–238., doi:10.1006/appe.2002.0485.
This source provides a research using the Nudge Theory. By providing chocolate to people in different distance, people tend to eat more chocolate when the they are closer and easy to crab. So the visibility and convenience do influence people’s consumption of food. Just by putting the junk food and sugar far away can reduce the unhealthy food people eat.
Vernekar, Dinesh. “Nudge - the Pros and Cons of Nobel Prize Winner Richard Thaler's Work.” Hacker Noon, Hacker Noon, 13 Feb. 2018, https://hackernoon.com/nudge-the-pros-and-cons-of-noble-prize-winner-richard-thalers-work-705f4bc1f8dd
This source provides examples in daily life using the Nudge Theory. This article also mentioned some concept that was mentioned in the book called Nudge such as libertarian paternalism, default. This article gives a brief view of the Nudge Theory and examples.