Subtle suggestions can be used to indirectly influence decision making, having a positive impact on people’s behaviour. These little pushes in the right direction are called nudges. Nudges do not dictate specific behaviour, they give us free rein whilst allowing us to make better choices.

People do not always make decisions that are good for them in the long term. Unwise choices pop up all the time in our daily lives, from investments to eating habits to the way we structure our day-to-day routines.

When we make a bad decision, it is often because we have been presented with either too little valuable information or too much that it becomes overly complex. Important decisions can be tough, even if all the information is presented to us, it is hard to determine what is valuable in order to make a solid, objective decision.

Most of our decision making is made subconsciously i.e. when you see a new puppy, you automatically smile, the response occurs entirely on its own. On-the-other-hand, a maths equation takes time and conscious thought, this is called a rational process.

Automatic decisions are made up of spontaneous emotions and subjective experiences, sometimes this can lead to a miss judgement and then an unwise decision.

An experiment was conducted at a cinema with 2 groups. The first group was given stale popcorn in a small box. The second group was also given stale popcorn but this time in a large box. Although both groups came out of the cinema complaining that the popcorn was stale, the group with the large boxes had eaten a considerable amount more.

In the business world, some companies exploit the human tendency to make wrong decisions and maximise sales by satisfying customer needs. Whether the increased consumption has a positive or negative effect on the customer isn’t always a considered factor for some companies. Sometimes new needs are created and companies tempt customers into buying things that they don’t actually need. A good example of this is fast food restaurants offering XL portions, with price incentives around buying more for less, which can be appealing even if the extra food is not actually needed.

Subtle suggestions can be used to indirectly influence decision making, having a positive impact on people’s behaviour. These little pushes in the right direction are called nudges. Nudges do not dictate specific behaviour, they give us free rein whilst allowing us to make better choices.

‘A nudge is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people's behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives.’

- Richard Thaler - Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness (2009)

Where do we see Examples of Nudges?

  • Arguably the most famous application of nudges was from the men's toilets at the airport in Amsterdam, where the designer printing an image of a housefly in the middle of each urinal. This prompted men to aim at the housefly and successfully reduced spillage on the bathroom floor by 80%.
  • Placing fruit at eye level in a store is a nudge – banning junk food is not.
  • Gmail uses nudges to prompt users when the word “attached” is used within the body of the email and there is no file attached when the send button is clicked.
  • The Metro in Stockholm turned one of the staircases into a giant musical piano, with each step playing a note when walked on. After the installation, people using the steps instead of the adjacent escalator rose by 66%.

Impact of Nudges

Nudges are most useful when there is a lot at stake, they encourage people to make better decisions and this often benefits more than just the individual alone.

Whilst Thaler may not be the first person to utilise Nudge theory, he was one of the first to recognise the power of good they could do. Combine the theory with economics, he thought, and you would see an impact on a much broader scale. He was right.

Nudges have since been adopted and implemented by state governments around the globe and Barack Obama even hired Cass R. Sunstein (Nudge theories co-author) onto his advisory team in 2014.

The future application for Nudges is vast, and we are only just beginning to scratch the surface, but what if instead of focusing on influencing the general public, we targeted changing employee behaviours?

How can nudges be implemented within the workplace to positively influence employee's decision making?

Objective Leader uses innovative Nudge Technology to send targeted messages to leaders within an organisation based on the strategic goals that they are currently working on. The effectiveness of the nudges are measured, and regular reports are produced so that the data can be visualised.

Nudge Technology is proven to be an extremely effective resource in reinforcing continuous learning as part of a leadership development project. Highly positive results are also achieved when integrated into organisational change initiatives, restructures, and any cultural alignment piece that is required.


To learn more about how nudges can positively impact your leaders, please get in touch via the 'Contact Us' page.

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