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Using nudges to change bad behavior
By Wu Jiayin |
September 12, 2009, Saturday
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Q: How can a "nudge" be applied to overcome problems such as spitting, jaywalking and drunk driving?
A: All these things can be dealt with by the usual kinds of fines.
You need to somehow change the social norms.
For example, in the US, when people take their dog for a walk, they carry a plastic bag to clean up after the dog.
While laws have been passed to enforce this, I think they're almost never enforced. I've never heard of anyone getting a ticket for not cleaning up after the dog. But the social norm has evolved so that if you don't clean up after the dog, people will say mean things to you.
I think a publicity campaign can be useful.
There is relevant example in the book. There was a publicity campaign in Texas for anti-littering. They put up signs that said: "Don't mess with Texas" and they used images of the favorite football team from Texas. That was part of the campaign.
Maybe you could get Yao Ming to do an ad campaign to say the equivalent of "Don't mess with China."
Q: Urban planning is a kind of nudge. For instance, broad roads encourage the use of cars, and are definitely not pedestrian-friendly. Can you apply "nudge" theory to Shanghai's urban planning?
A: I'm not an expert on urban planning, and I don't know Shanghai well enough.
But many cities have had success with the congestion tax, for example, London and Singapore.
In Singapore, there is basically no traffic downtown, because it costs a lot of money to drive into the (city) center.
Whether taxes are nudges is a question of definition.
But they're like nudges in the sense that they still give people choice. So if it costs you US$3 to drive into the city, then it's up to you whether you want to pay the tax and drive or to take public transport.
I'm in favor of congestion tax. It's a tax that solves the problem and it raises money that you can use for something else like health care or education.
Q: Heilongjiang Province has just passed a regulation giving parents the right to stop puppy love. Does it make sense?
A: That's a good question, because it really goes to the entire theme of the book, which is that it's possible for a government, parents and everybody to influence behavior without bans and mandates.
I would hope that maybe the governments could learn some tricks from us that might help them to use nudges instead of rules.
Q: In your book, you say people often make mistakes by applying "rules of thumb," but you also suggest the use of default choices when designing choices, which is often done on the basis of past experience. Is there a contradiction?
A: Using a rule of thumb is not itself a mistake.
In fact, rules of thumb generally work.
But sometimes a rule of thumb can lead to a mistake. So for example, if you ask people which way of generating power is riskier, nuclear power or coal? They will say nuclear.
That's clearly wrong.
A: All these things can be dealt with by the usual kinds of fines.
You need to somehow change the social norms.
For example, in the US, when people take their dog for a walk, they carry a plastic bag to clean up after the dog.
While laws have been passed to enforce this, I think they're almost never enforced. I've never heard of anyone getting a ticket for not cleaning up after the dog. But the social norm has evolved so that if you don't clean up after the dog, people will say mean things to you.
I think a publicity campaign can be useful.
There is relevant example in the book. There was a publicity campaign in Texas for anti-littering. They put up signs that said: "Don't mess with Texas" and they used images of the favorite football team from Texas. That was part of the campaign.
Maybe you could get Yao Ming to do an ad campaign to say the equivalent of "Don't mess with China."
Q: Urban planning is a kind of nudge. For instance, broad roads encourage the use of cars, and are definitely not pedestrian-friendly. Can you apply "nudge" theory to Shanghai's urban planning?
A: I'm not an expert on urban planning, and I don't know Shanghai well enough.
But many cities have had success with the congestion tax, for example, London and Singapore.
In Singapore, there is basically no traffic downtown, because it costs a lot of money to drive into the (city) center.
Whether taxes are nudges is a question of definition.
But they're like nudges in the sense that they still give people choice. So if it costs you US$3 to drive into the city, then it's up to you whether you want to pay the tax and drive or to take public transport.
I'm in favor of congestion tax. It's a tax that solves the problem and it raises money that you can use for something else like health care or education.
Q: Heilongjiang Province has just passed a regulation giving parents the right to stop puppy love. Does it make sense?
A: That's a good question, because it really goes to the entire theme of the book, which is that it's possible for a government, parents and everybody to influence behavior without bans and mandates.
I would hope that maybe the governments could learn some tricks from us that might help them to use nudges instead of rules.
Q: In your book, you say people often make mistakes by applying "rules of thumb," but you also suggest the use of default choices when designing choices, which is often done on the basis of past experience. Is there a contradiction?
A: Using a rule of thumb is not itself a mistake.
In fact, rules of thumb generally work.
But sometimes a rule of thumb can lead to a mistake. So for example, if you ask people which way of generating power is riskier, nuclear power or coal? They will say nuclear.
That's clearly wrong.
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