Cueing healthier alternatives for take-away: a field experiment on the effects of (disclosing) three nudges on food choices

BMC Public Health

Bob M. Fennis¹  Denise T. D. De Ridder²  Tracy T. L. Cheung²  Floor M. Kroese²  David Marchiori²  Marleen Gillebaart² 

[1] Department of Marketing, University of Groningen;Department of Social, Health and Organisational Psychology, Utrecht University;

关键词: Nudging;    Food choice;    Salience;    Social proof;    Transparency;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-019-7323-y

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Background The current field experiment demonstrates the effectiveness of nudging to promote healthy food choices. Methods Three types of nudges were implemented at a take-away food vendor: 1) an accessibility nudge that placed fruits at the front counter; 2) a salience nudge that presented healthy bread rolls to be more visually attractive; and 3) a social proof nudge that conveyed yoghurt as a popular choice. We additionally assessed whether nudging effects would remain robust when a disclosure message was included. The field experiment was conducted over a seven-week period. The measured outcome was the sales of the targeted healthy food products. Results The accessibility nudge significantly increased the sales of the fresh fruits. The impact of the salience nudge was limited presumably due to existing preferences or habits that typically facilitate bread purchases. As the sales of the yoghurt shakes remained consistently low over the seven-week period the impact of the social proof nudge remained unexamined. Critically, disclosing the purpose of the nudges did not interfere with effects. Conclusions Current findings suggest nudging as an effective strategy for healthy food promotion, and offer implications for topical debate regarding the ethics of nudges.

【 授权许可】

Unknown