The Cognitive Mechanisms of Nudging in the Context of Healthier Food Choices

Abstract

Nudging refers to ways to influence one’s decisions, however, the cognitive mechanisms of nudging are not fully understood. In this study, we wanted to learn more about the cognitive mechanisms of nudging in the context of making food decisions. We did this with an experiment where participants rated preferences for healthy and unhealthy food items and made decisions between two food items under four different conditions; baseline, nudge, time pressure and nudge and time pressure combined. We wanted to ask the following questions: will the participants choose the nudged item more often, can we nudge people to select a healthy item, does the time pressure strengthen the effect of the nudge, and will the ratings of the items influence the decisions? We first hypothesized that participants would select the nudged items more often, and that time pressure would increase this effect. Finally, we expected that the preferences would influence these decisions. This study demonstrated that participants selected the nudged items more often, however, they did not select the healthy nudges more often. There was a significant effect on the ratings of the items; meaning that people selected what they liked. Contrary to our expectations, time pressure did not influence these decisions. These results could have implications on how and where to use nudges effectively.