de Ridder, Feitsma, van den Hoven, et al. (2020) on Simple, Not Easy, Nudges

Denise de Ridder, Joram Feitsma, Mariëtte van den Hoven, et al., “Simple Nudges That Are Not So Easy.” Behavioural Public Policy, 1-19, 2020.

• This article draws upon a Dutch research program (2014-2018) with the acronym WINK: “Welfare Improvement through Nudging Knowledge [p. 3].” WINK "examines nudging from the perspective of three core disciplines: ethics, public administration and psychology [p. 3]."

• The authors posit that there are three common yet false assumptions made concerning nudges: (1) nudges threaten autonomy; (2) nudges are easy to implement; and (3) nudges are simple and effective.

• Autonomy might mean unfettered choice, but it also could refer to agency (capacity to choose) and self-constitution (identity and living the life one desires). Perhaps people who criticize nudges for threatening autonomy (even though by definition nudges do not preclude any choice options) do so because they have adopted a definition of autonomy in which maintenance of freedom of choice does not end the debate.

• Is it enervating to possess too many choices? Should we welcome nudges to reduce the burden of choice?

• The explanation of nudges can alter judgments about the extent to which they threaten autonomy.

• In general, the authors are fairly hostile to claims that nudges threaten autonomy, and tend to believe that nudges are more likely to enhance autonomy, by overcoming common gaps between  intentions and actions.

• The rush to set up nudge units is one piece of evidence that shows that many policymakers view nudges as both effective and cheap to implement. "In reality, however, the process of designing, testing and implementing nudge interventions is far more complicated, which questions the supposed ‘efficiency’ of nudges [p. 8]."

• Persuasion via information provision is hard… so it is not surprising that many policymakers view nudging as a promising, quick-acting alternative (p. 10). But in general, the effects of nudges tend to be fairly modest. This limited effectiveness might be considered an advantage, as it defuses the argument that nudges are overly manipulative. 

• When folks are unsure of their preferences, nudging works pretty well, and promotes autonomy in both the self-constitution sense and in the agency sense.