Search Results (99)

Background/Objectives: Excessive sugar intake through sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) has raised global concerns due to its association with various health risks. This study evaluates the effectiveness of nudges—in the form of order placement, variety expansion, and a combination of both—in promoting non-SSB purchases at self-service kiosks, a key environment for SSB consumption. Methods: This study was conducted using a real-world kiosk at food and beverage outlets in South Korea from 28 May to 12 July, 2024. A total of 183 consumers aged 19 to 29 participated in this study. A single kiosk device was used with four screen layouts, each reflecting a different nudge strategy. Participants were unaware of these manipulations when making their purchases. After their purchases, participants completed a survey. All data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 29.0. Results: Females reported significantly higher positive attitudes, preferences, and perceived necessity regarding nudges compared to males. In particular, both the single (variety) and combination (order and variety) nudges received positive responses from females (p < 0.001). The combination nudge significantly increased non-SSB purchases compared to the control (p < 0.05) and single (order) nudge groups (p < 0.01), which suggests that combination nudge is effective in promoting healthier beverage choices. Females were also more likely to purchase non-SSBs than males (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The findings suggest that the combination nudge strategy effectively promotes healthier beverage choices in real kiosk settings. Notably, females demonstrate significantly higher positive attitudes, preferences, and perceived necessity regarding nudges compared to males, and are also more likely to purchase non-SSBs. These findings offer valuable insights for real-world applications aimed at encouraging healthier consumption behaviors. Full article

Traditional energy conservation policies have primarily relied on economic incentives and informational campaigns. However, recent insights from behavioral and social sciences indicate that subtle behavioral interventions, particularly social nudges, can significantly influence household electricity use. This paper presents a structured review of 23 recent field studies examining how social nudging strategies, such as peer comparison, group identity, and normative messaging, have contributed to measurable reductions in electricity consumption. By analyzing intervention outcomes across different regions and formats, we identify key success factors, limitations, and policy implications. Special attention is given to ethical considerations, fairness in implementation, and potential challenges in sustaining behavior change. This study offers a framework for integrating social nudges into future energy policies, emphasizing their role as low-cost, scalable tools for promoting sustainable energy behavior. Full article

This study investigates how persuasion, trust, and empathy from Human Resources (HR) managers affect the acceptance of nudging practices in workplace, especially when these interventions are meant to be ethical and supportive. Based on the theory of advisory nudge, the research connects ideas from Human Resource Management and ethical marketing. A quantitative method was applied using a structured questionnaire answered by 733 HR professionals in European companies. The model was tested with PLS-SEM, and results confirmed strong influence of supervisor’s persuasion and empathy on HR professionals’ perception of nudges as ethical and autonomy-enhancing. The findings also showed that empathy plays important role in how HR professionals experience the intention behind soft interventions, with gender-based differences being significant. Additional analyses with IPMA and MGA confirmed the strategic importance of trust and emotional intelligence in organizational settings. The results help to understand when a persuasive act is seen as ethical guidance and when it is not, offering theoretical and practical insights both for HR leadership and marketing communication. The study suggests future research to explore different types of nudging and include variables such as organizational culture or HR professionals’ values, to better understand the ethical acceptance of influence at work. Full article

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), also referred to as nosocomial or hospital-acquired infections, are a significant cause of death worldwide, with hand hygiene being the most powerful means to tackle them. The present study had a twofold aim: first, to assess the level of knowledge and the degree of compliance with hand hygiene practices based on healthcare workers’ self-reports; second, to evaluate whether behavioral economics techniques, specifically a poster combining an image and an informational message, designed according to the published literature, can increase the level of healthcare workers’ compliance with hand hygiene. Factors that potentially affect compliance were also examined. This study involved distributing a questionnaire to healthcare workers in Greek public hospitals, from which 314 completed responses were collected during the last quarter of 2023. Participants were randomly and evenly assigned to an intervention group that received a nudging poster or to a control group, which did not. Self-reported compliance with hand hygiene practices was high, based on two latent variables derived through exploratory factor analysis, although knowledge of germ transmission was moderate, as reflected in the relevant knowledge question scores. However, nudging had no statistically significant effect on hand hygiene behavior. Compliance was associated with several factors, including gender, age, work experience, profession, perceived adequacy of available hygiene-related resources, and perceived consequences of nosocomial infections on patient outcomes. Full article

Sedentary behavior at work is a major, and growing, public health concern. This field experiment investigates the effectiveness of behavioral nudges, specifically default settings on height-adjustable workstations (HAWS), in promoting stand-up working behavior. It also examines whether transparency and health coaching enhance these effects. The study was conducted in a Belgian governmental organization and included 149 employees across eight departments. Departments were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: a non-transparent default nudge (NTDN), a transparent default nudge (TDN), a classical health coaching intervention, or a hybrid intervention combining TDN and coaching. Over an eight-week intervention period, employee posture was recorded using fixed camera snapshots taken every 30 min. These data were used to calculate the stand-up ratio. The NTDN increased stand-up rates from 1.82% to 4.93%. The TDN more than doubled this effect, reaching 11.25%. The combination of TDN and coaching produced the highest increase, with stand-up rates rising to 18.80% (d = 9.85). Coaching alone showed no significant effect. Although behavior partially regressed after the interventions were removed, post-measurement stand-up ratios after a week remained higher than baseline. These findings suggest that transparent default nudges, especially when combined with low-threshold coaching, can meaningfully reduce sedentary behavior in everyday office environments. Full article

This study used randomised controlled trials to test the effectiveness of three behavioural interventions, i.e., focalism, social norm, and visualisation, in changing people’s housing and commuting preferences. The experiment was conducted online via Credamo, one of the largest online panel data providers in China. It included only renters who needed to commute in the city of Xi’an, China, as participants in the study. The results show that behavioural interventions significantly increased respondents’ willingness to adopt more sustainable commute modes, such as walking or cycling, and reduced the tendency to use private cars. Among the three behavioural interventions, the social norm intervention had the largest and most significant impact. The findings shed light on the potential of applying behavioural interventions in sustainable urban transport management. More importantly, the results demonstrate the possibility of using behavioural interventions to incorporate sustainable urban development goals into housing decisions. Full article

Hand hygiene (HH) in school settings can reduce the spread of infectious diseases and student absenteeism due to illness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization recommended HH as a public health measure to prevent disease transmission. Understanding school staff’s experiences with school-based programs is important for future program development and improvement. As part of a mixed-methods study, we conducted in-depth interviews in March 2022 with school administrators and teachers at 12 primary schools in Belize, selected based on high gaps in HH resources, to understand HH responsibilities, supplies, and challenges. An intervention was implemented to increase HH knowledge and practices among students, which included environmental nudges, supplemental provision of soap, and HH lesson implementation. Follow-up interviews were conducted in June 2023 among school administrators to garner feedback on the intervention. School staff described roles in teaching and managing HH supplies at both timepoints. The environmental nudges and HH lessons were perceived as helpful, but there were gaps remaining in HH practices, which may be partially influenced by practices and beliefs outside of school. Procurement of HH supplies remained a challenge at some schools due to financial constraints. The feedback from school staff will be valuable for the implementation of future hand hygiene programs in schools. Full article

Diversity and inclusion in organizational settings are still under-researched themes despite their societal relevance. In this preregistered systematic literature review, we examine how nudging as an agency-preserving intervention tool can create a more inclusive and diverse workplace. Nudging is rooted in behavioral economics and aims to influence decision-making processes without restricting freedom of choice. Inclusion refers to creating a work environment where everyone feels valued and encouraged to contribute. Diversity reaches beyond demographic factors, fostering more innovative and creative organizational practices, and better decisions. We searched for applications nudging towards diversity and inclusion initiatives at the workplace in four databases: PsycINFO, Scopus, EBSCOhost, and Web of Science. Peer-reviewed articles published in the last 15 years were included regardless of article type in organizational settings were included. Nine studies met our inclusion criteria. Based on their findings, we show a positive association between the use of nudging techniques to create more inclusive and diverse workplaces and advance a classification of nudge types in this domain. We discuss the importance of being aware of the potential drawbacks and negative consequences of using nudging interventions. Potential drawbacks that may arise include lack of autonomy and overload. Further research is needed to explore which nudging techniques are most effective in promoting diversity and inclusion. Full article

Amidst a period of sustained inflation and rising living costs, food insecurity is a growing concern in Australia and is correlated with poor diet quality and increased rates of non-communicable diseases. Currently there is a gap in knowledge of the impact of increasing cost-of-living pressures on the affordability of a healthy diet. As affordability plays a key role in food security, this cross-sectional study aimed to examine the costs, affordability, and differential of habitual (unhealthy) and recommended (healthy) diets within the Illawarra region of Australia and compare results to 2022 findings. The Healthy Diets Australian Standardised Affordability and Pricing tool was applied in six locations in the Illawarra, with two randomly selected each from a low, moderate, and high socioeconomically disadvantaged area. Costs were determined for three reference households: a family of four, a single parent family, and a single male. Affordability was determined for the reference households at three levels of income: median gross, minimum-wage, and welfare dependent. Data was compared to data collected in 2022 using the same methods and locations. Recommended diets cost 10.3–36% less than habitual diets depending on household type, but remained unaffordable for welfare dependant households and family households from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, where diets required 25.5–45.9% of household income. Due to income increases, affordability of both diets has marginally improved since 2022, requiring 0.5–4.8% less household income. This study provides updated evidence that supports the urgent need for policies, interventions, and monitoring to widely assess and improve healthy diet affordability and decrease food insecurity rates. Possible solutions include increasing welfare rates above the poverty line and utilising nudge theory in grocery stores. Full article

Background: Childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer survivors (CAYACS) face significant long-term health risks, yet adherence to long-term follow-up (LTFU) care remains inconsistent. This study explores the concept of akrasia (i.e., acting against one’s better judgment by engaging in behaviors known to be harmful or counterproductive) to understand the psychological, cognitive, and systemic barriers influencing survivor engagement in LTFU. Method: Using an ethical reflection approach based on a literature review, we discussed survivor experiences, behavioral science insights, and ethical principles to identify solutions that balance patient autonomy with supportive interventions. A narrative approach was used to summarize the key points discussed during the ethics reflection group meetings. Results: Our findings highlight key barriers such as trauma, avoidance behaviors, and cognitive constraints that contribute to non-adherence. Strategies such as shared decision-making, digital health tools, and nudge-based interventions are proposed to enhance survivor engagement. Ethical considerations emphasize the need for personalized and flexible care approaches that respect survivor agency while mitigating obstacles to adherence. Conclusions: Addressing akrasia through ethical and behavioral frameworks could improve LTFU adherence, ultimately enhancing survivorship care and long-term health outcomes. Full article

The cognitive ability of the elderly significantly influences evacuation performance in urgent situations. Despite its importance, many fire evacuation studies overlook the impact of cognitive ability on elderly evacuation performance. To address this gap, this study employs multicriteria decision-making to identify nudging factors that enhance the cognitive abilities of the elderly during fire evacuations in long-term care facilities. Based on a literature review, key nudging factors include guidance lights, guide lines, handrails, and guidance equipment, with sub-criteria such as location, color, size, and intervals. Experts from academic and practical fields analyzed the nudging factors, followed by a hybrid analytic hierarchy process (AHP–TOPSIS) analysis. The findings emphasize the necessity of providing auditory information through guidance equipment (e.g., voice evacuation system) in high-level scenarios (practice experts AHP: 0.31) and visual information through the continuous installation of guide lines in strategic locations (academic experts AHP: 0.35) to facilitate efficient evacuation. As a result, this study confirms both the differing and concordant opinions among expert groups while recognizing the absolute necessity of elderly evacuation research and considering the unique challenges that prevent actual evacuation experiments with elderly individuals. By synthesizing these perspectives, the study derives the weights and ranks of nudging factors based on urgent-level circumstances, thereby conducting a quantitative assessment of factors that enhance cognitive ability during elderly evacuation. The findings of this study can serve as a basis for future evacuation policy formulation for elderly-related facilities and, as a derivative effect, contribute to ensuring the life safety of elderly individuals within the local community. Full article

School-aged children are vulnerable to infectious diseases due to their developing immune systems and frequent social interactions. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of non-pharmaceutical interventions, like hand hygiene (HH). This study evaluated the changes achieved through a school-based intervention to Guatemalan primary school students’ HH knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported practices while collecting teacher feedback to inform future efforts. The intervention included handwashing festivals, environmental nudges, and the regular delivery of soap and alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) surveys were conducted pre- and post-intervention with 109 and 144 students, respectively. Six teachers participated in interviews to provide perspectives. Significant improvements were observed in students’ knowledge of HH’s role in preventing disease (pre: 84.4%; post: 96.5; p < 0.01) and recognition of critical moments (pre: 84.4%; post: 92.4%; p < 0.05). Self-reported practices also improved, with more students reporting washing their hands for 20 s or more (pre: 68.8%; post: 79.9%; p < 0.05). Fewer students reported liking ABHR after the intervention (pre: 89%; post: 78.5%; p < 0.05). Teachers reported increased HH practices and provided feedback to enhance interventions. These findings highlight the effectiveness of school-based interventions and emphasize the importance of addressing knowledge gaps and incorporating teacher insights for sustained public health benefits. Full article

Background/Objectives: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health concern exacerbated by inappropriate antimicrobial prescribing practices, particularly in low-resource settings such as Uganda. The research aimed to develop a culturally sensitive behavioral intervention, leveraging a “nudge” strategy, to improve healthcare provider adherence to the 2016 Uganda Clinical Guidelines (UCG 2016) in five Ugandan hospitals. This intervention formed part of broader antimicrobial stewardship initiatives led by the United States Agency for International Development Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services Program. Methods: This study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining formative research and behavioral intervention. Guided by the Deloitte Behavioral Insights Framework, the research team conducted key informant interviews to identify prescribing barriers and motivators and developed three suitable behavioral interventions: perceived monitoring, ward leaderboards, and educational workshops. The study evaluated the interventions’ impact through point prevalence surveys (PPS), using the World Health Organization PPS methodology at three stages: pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, and one-month post-intervention. Results: Key behavioral themes across individual, social, environmental, and organizational elements informed the intervention design and implementation. The behavioral intervention package increased antimicrobial prescription compliance with the UCG 2016 from 27% at baseline to 50% immediately post-intervention, though these effects diminished at one-month post-intervention. Conclusions: Our study addresses an existing gap in behavioral nudges-based operational research on antimicrobial prescribing in low- and middle-income countries. These results showed an immediate improvement in adherence to the UCG 2016 among healthcare providers in Ugandan hospitals, though the effect was attenuated at one-month follow-up. Despite the attenuation, behavior change presents a feasible, cost-effective, and sustainable approach to improving antimicrobial prescribing practices and addressing AMR. Full article

This study considers ways to increase the consumption of sustainable fashion given the significant environmental and social damages associated with the industry. A series of experiments were conducted examining the impacts of choice architecture (nudges) under field conditions in collaboration with one of Israel’s largest shopping centers. This study sought to identify which interventions at the retail level successfully motivate sustainable fashion behavioral change regarding purchases and willingness to pay more, along with agreement with several statements regarding the climate crisis and sustainable fashion. Among the types of nudges examined in this field study were providing information, increasing accessibility to sustainable alternatives and appealing to social identity in relation to demographics and green self-image. This study found that offering alternatives to consumers constituted the most effective way to “nudge” consumers toward more sustainable purchasing behavior. Nonetheless, this does not negate the contribution of providing information and strengthening social norms regarding sustainable fashion. Additionally, in all groups, most participants reported that they did not know how to distinguish between sustainable and non-sustainable fashion, nor did they believe that the clothes they purchased were actually sustainable. The findings emphasize the need for policies that will increase the accessibility of sustainable fashion. Full article

This discussion describes an experimental behavioral economics class implemented in a service learning format. Students implemented two nudge interventions to influence public trash behavior, which is an issue throughout the Middle East/North Africa (MENA). The aim in one project was to encourage more use of trash bins in a multi-screen theater and in the other to sort plastic, glass, and paper when throwing trash in the public bins at a university. These two organizations paid the implementation costs, which were quite low, as common for most nudges. The class was co-taught by two university faculty and several personnel from governmental and UN offices responsible for building nudge capabilities in Kuwait. In each case, results in the student projects demonstrated that nudging resulted in a substantial improvement. Students gained strong competencies in applying sustainability principles to a specific problem and in carrying out a real-world project. They learned the importance of collaborating with stakeholders and got to see that their work was actually used in policy formation by the Kuwait government and the UNDP’s Kuwait office. Full article