Tag Archives: change

STOP NUDGING ME: Governmental Nudges on the British public and beyond.

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A classic Nudge

The government is changing you for the better whether you like it or not

…and the chances are you’re not even aware of it.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept of ‘Nudge’, it encompasses the idea that an individual’s behaviour can be changed (often without them knowing) via the use of ‘nudge’ in the form of a simple stimulus (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009). A classic example of a ‘nudge’ would be to increase children’s intake of healthy food in school meals, by placing healthier foods at eye level (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009), or to illuminate the healthier foods with more light (Wansink, 2010).

The Nudge Bible

One nudge you Welsh residents may be familiar with, is the 5p fee on carrier bags.

Here’s another good example

And Here.

Now, the ability to change an individual’s behaviour with a nudge is a subtle yet powerful tool, and one that the current UK government is using on the British Public to great effect.

This wing was set up by David Cameron’s cabinet office in July 2010 under the name: The Behavioural Insights Team by a Psychology graduate David Halpern, who claimed that BIT could save the government millions of pounds, through comparably VERY low cost nudges.

In the words of BIT “the Coalition Government’s intention is to find ways of encouraging, supporting and enabling people to make better choices for themselves”

And personally, I’m all for it.

…I think.

But should the government be interfering with people’s free will, even if it is for good?

Currently, the areas that the team have focussed on are:

  • Fraud, Error and Debt
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Consumer Affairs
  • Health
  • Test, Learn and Adapt

With these interventions, BIT aims to save £300million over the next 5 years simply with the use of Nudge.

Here’s a few examples:

Test, learn and adapt essentially refers to the use of BIT’s randomised controlled trials (RCT) to test how effective their interventions are. Whilst this seems nothing new, BIT claim their RCTs to be very successful  and that their how-to guide on RCT is there most downloaded document (as of September 2012).

BIT’s Fraud error and depth policy will lead to an estimated £70million worth of savings per annum. One example of their nudges is the sending of personalised text messages to individuals who owe fines. BIT found that in trials, texts were SIX times more successful than warning letters, saving nearly £30million pounds, 150’000 baliff interventions, and all for the price of simple text (Cabinet office, 2012).

When it comes to energy efficiency, (amongst other things) the unit has found that by offering free loft clearances, they can increase loft insulation purchases four-fold, simply by appealing to the lazy consumer, who can’t be bothered with he hassle of cleaning their loft, (Cabinet office, 2011)

By all accounts, many people in government believe nudge methods too good to be true.

Low cost.

Low risk.

Huge savings.

In a recession. 

But the governmental evidence (and outside research) is stacking up, and as a result, the UK is now at the forefront of using Nudge in government initiatives, to the point where the Behavioural insights team are even being enlisted by the Australian government to aid in policies in New South Wales.

Despite all the good Nudge can bring, how does it make you feel that the government has this very subtle power?

Here I presented only a brief introduction to some of the nudges BIT is involved in, if you want to find out more, check out the website.