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choice architect has the responsibility for organizing the context in which people make decisions.
there is no such thing as a “neutral” design.
the power of these small details comes from focusing people’s attention in a particular direction.
The paternalistic policies that we favor aim to influence choices in a way that will make choosers better off, as judged by the choosers themselves.
“we get by with a little help from our friends.”
A nudge, as we will use the term, is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives.
intervention must be easy and cheap to avoid.
Unlike Econs, Humans make predictable mistakes.
(defaults are often perceived to be hints that they are the recommended option). Changing the default can be an effective nudge, but it is decidedly not the answer to every problem.
Humans respond to incentives too, but they are also influenced by nudges.
Choice architecture is inevitable.
three common rules of thumb or heuristics—anchoring, availability, and representativeness—and
This process is called “anchoring and adjustment.” You start with some anchor, a number you know, and adjust in the direction you think is appropriate.
adjustments are typically insufficient.
anchors serve as nudges.
reactance: when people feel ordered around, they might get mad and do the opposite of what is being ordered (or even suggested).
availability heuristic. They assess the likelihood of risks by asking how readily examples come to mind.
governments will allocate their resources in a way that fits with people’s fears rather than in response to the most likely dangers.
representativeness.
Stereotypes are sometimes right!
the prospect of losing something makes you twice as miserable as the prospect of gaining the same thing makes you happy.
One of the causes of status quo bias is a lack of attention.
Default options thus act as powerful nudges.
One is fast and intuitive; the other is slow and reflective.
temptation is easier to recognize than to define.
temptations are highly personal.
The bottom line is that Humans are easily nudged by other Humans. Why? One reason is that we like to conform.
confidence heuristic: people tend to think that confident speakers must be correct.
“reputational cascades,” in which people go along with others not because they have learned from them, but because they do not want to incur their wrath or disapproval.
Social influences matter, and so does luck.
Sometimes the thoughts and practices of others are surprising, and hence people are much affected by learning what they are.
Celebrities and so-called influencers might believe that they are best positioned to inspire regular people like us to change our ways. But in fact, people seem simply to respond best to norms set by others in similar settings and circumstances.
Call it the golden rule of libertarian paternalism: offer nudges that are most likely to help and least likely to inflict harm.
Generally, the higher the stakes, the less often we are able to practice.
Most of us buy houses and cars not more than once or twice a decade, if that, but we are really practiced at grocery shopping.
difficult and rare choices are good candidates for nudges.
When feedback is ineffective, we may benefit from a nudge.
It is particularly hard for people to make good decisions when they have trouble translating the choices they face into the experiences they will have.
people may most need a good nudge for choices that require memory or have delayed effects; those that are difficult, are infrequent, and offer poor feedback; and those for which the relationship between choice and experience is ambiguous.
“You can’t fight city hall”? Within the human mind, the Automatic System is city hall.)
If you want to encourage people to do something, Make It Easy.
even Humans will reject a default if it makes them really uncomfortable.
A self-nudge can be called a “snudge,” and for most of us, life can be improved via well-chosen snudges.
it’s good to nudge people in directions that they might not have specifically chosen in advance.
Structuring choice sometimes means helping people to learn, so they can later make better choices on their own.
If you want to encourage some behavior, figure out why people aren’t doing it already, and eliminate the barriers that are standing in their way.
increasing convenience.
VLADIMIR: Well? Shall we go? ESTRAGON: Yes, let’s go. They do not move.
inertia
“Don’t insure the small stuff” is really good advice,
fewer people agree to join if the choice is forced.
