Most People Like Nudges: And Why That Matters

Lucia A. Reisch, Cass R. Sunstein, Micha Kaiser

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

Abstract

This chapter reports the results of nationally representative surveys in fourteen countries, investigating the attitudes of people towards nudges and nudging, with a particular focus on environmental and health nudges. The countries covered are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. There is strong majority support for both health and environmental nudges in all countries, with the exception of Japan, Denmark, and Hungary. China and South Korea stand out with particularly high acceptance rates. Beyond reporting the results of the combined dataset for the first time, the chapter provides an explanation first, of why policy makers might be interested in public approval or disapproval of nudges, and second, how information of public acceptance can inform both uses of and constraints on nudging.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationTheories of Choice : The Social Science and the Law of Decision Making
EditorsStefan Grundmann, Philipp Hacker
Number of pages14
Place of PublicationOxford
PublisherOxford University Press
Publication date2021
Pages73-86
Chapter4
ISBN (Print)9780198863175, 9780191895678
ISBN (Electronic)9780192608260, 9780192608277
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords

  • International survey
  • Nudge
  • Justification for nudges
  • Rational choice
  • Information

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