You've Been Nudged

If you've ever read Nudge by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein then you are very familiar with the idea of choice architects and the ways that they structure decisions to modify your behavior. These small, subliminal influences are present in our everyday lives and are often difficult to spot. For this post, I'm going to point out a few "nudges" that I see in my everyday life and analyze how they affect my behavior.

1. Miller Dining Hall

If you have been to the Miller Dining Hall since it was remodeled a couple years ago, then you are probably aware of the entirely new layout that has been implemented. By spreading the food into a variety of different themed locations, not only did Miller become more aesthetically appealing, it also serves another purpose. By spreading the food around the dining hall and using smaller serving dishes and utensils, Miller has been able to dramatically reduce the amount of food that is wasted every day. Although this change was very small and has little effect on most diners experience, it was very succesful in nudging them into a desired behavior. This article from The Exponent has more information on the environmentally friendly changes made in the Miller Dining Hall.

2. Safeway

As we all know, many stores place small items such as candy or gum near the register in an effort to influence consumers to purchase these items at the end of their trip. I don't think of myself as particularly influenced by this approach, but by placing the dairy, deli, bakery, and produce on different sides of the store Safeway has found my weakness. As I walk from one side of the store to the other it is very rare that I don't stop to pick up something that not only I hadn't intended to get, but don't need. Some perfect examples being: chips, beer, ice cream, and tortillas. All of these products are placed at the outside of each row and easily catch my eye when I am walking around the store. Although I am aware that this is done on purpose, I am still unable to overcome the urge, therefore falling into the nudge created by the choice architects.

3. Email Enrollment

How many times have you received emails and newsletters from companies and organizations that you didn't realize you had signed up for? If you are like me, then this is a weekly occurrence. Often when ordering a product or making an account on a website you are faced with a variety of checkboxes. Sometimes these are already checked and other times you are forced to check them yourself. In my experience, many boxes concerning signing up for an email newsletter are already checked and require the user to opt out. By forcing customers to opt out these companies are nudging customers to enroll in their newsletter so that they can continue to influence the user to return to purchase more products. I often fail to notice the box and therefore fail to opt-out, allowing the company to harass me with daily emails.