The pros and cons of nudging

19.10.2018 | MICHAEL SCHRØDER

Nudging is often symbolised by an elephant mother who gently but firmly pushes or drags her youngster to make it perform a specific action.

However, as a concept nudging is now also regarded as some kind of miracle cure that companies or organisations can use to steer customers or citizens towards a specific choice. Does it work? And can it even backfire? The answer to both questions is yes. In some cases, it works. In other cases, people will do the complete opposite than intended, according to new research into nudging.

For a number of years, Assistant Professor Mette Trier Damgaard, the Department of Economics and Business Economics at Aarhus BSS has conducted research into nudging and the effect of nudging. In this podcast, she talks about what you need to be particularly aware of when trying your hand at the art of nudging.

Read more:

Can we nudge ourselves?

Neither nudging nor framing leads us to leave our cars at home

 

Listen to the episode below. This episode is in Danish.