A gentle nudge can make you budge

Behavioral Scientist has announced its most read articles of 2020. This one, entitled “Why Triggering Emotions Won’t Lead to Lasting Behavior Change” by Christina Gravert from the University of Copenhagen, caught my attention.

We don’t completely agree with the headline, which seems too broad, and doesn’t seem to fully reflect the author’s point. We can easily think of times when the triggering of an emotion sparked a change in behavior.  (The “Don’t Mess With Texas” anti-littering campaign is one example. Successful anti-addiction programs have an emotional component.)  There is no one-size-fits-all answer that works in all cases.

But as the author points out, sometimes those attempts at emotional triggering can be like a sugar-high – helpful in the short-term but not sustainable over time. (The piano staircase above is one famous example – a lot of fun for a little while and a great marketing idea, but the novelty can wear off quickly.)

Sometimes subtle nudges are the path of least resistance. They often work unconsciously and don’t necessarily spark an emotion.  For example, placing vegetarian options at the top of a menu or forcing people to opt-out of (rather than opt-into) retirement plans or organ-donor programs.

Dr. Gravert distinguishes “pure nudges” like these, which undermine our inherent laziness, from “moral nudges,” which can be effective but which also are risky.  As she argues, they are dangerous because nudges that provoke negative emotions like anxiety, behavior, or fear eventually invite rebellion.