These signs represent a delightful fusion of humour and environmental conservation, designed to tap into our instinctual, “System 1 thinking”. The shark, for instance, is not your typical local finned predator, but a whimsical sign placed at the water’s edge. Instead of causing fear, it provokes curiosity. Visitors are left wondering, „Why on earth is there a shark warning in a mountain lake?“

The accompanying message is where the magic happens: „Of course, no shark here! But a lake with a fragile ecosystem. Don’t swim, thank you!“ This humorous twist activates “System 1 thinking” by using surprise and wit to gently nudge visitors towards the desired behaviour.

Throughout the summer, numerous observations were conducted by local stakeholders, including Regional Natural Park agents, shepherds, and professional hikers. 

The results: A significantly fewer number of visitors dared to swim in these high-altitude lakes. The shark and mermaid nudge signs, with their humour and visual impact, effectively conveyed the message that these mountain lakes are delicate ecosystems worth protecting.

Are you aware of any other nudges that promote sustainable tourism? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com

From Jean-Marc Badaroux, the Director of nudge ME, the pioneering French communications agency dedicated to the art of nudging. With eight years of experience, nudge ME specialises in consulting on a wide range of topics, including health, safety, sustainable development, civic engagement, UX or management.

A research team led by Professor Balaji Prabhakar (Stanford) and Christopher Pluntke (UCL) conducted a study in Singapore’s public transit system to encourage commuters to travel off-peak hours. 

The team used the platform INSINC, a frequent commuter program offering various incentives. Notably, one of the key incentives was essentially a „self-administered raffle.“ One could gain triple credits for off-peak travel – which could then be redeemed at a fixed exchange rate (1000 credits = SG$1) or used for prizes ranging from $1 to $100 in a fun online game.

The result: Approximately 87.6% of INSINC participants preferred the raffle option, and among them, 8.41% shifted from peak to off-peak travel. 

The preference for the „self-administered raffle“ incentive can be attributed to the excitement of uncertainty. People are naturally drawn to the possibility of winning a prize, which adds an element of fun and anticipation; while leveraging the general preference of people to go for a $100 prize at 1% odds; over a $1 prize. This ultimately induces a larger shift, and in turn improves cost efficiency. While this is not the sole reason for reduced rush hour commutes, the “self-administered raffle”/gamification of the incentive plays a significant role in motivating individuals to opt into off-peak travelling (by way of playing a raffle).

Are you aware of any other nudges that help reduce traffic congestion and thus CO2 emissions? Feel free to comment or get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com

From Dr. Melina Moleskis, a behavioural scientist working with private companies and the public sector to help solve problems across a range of issues: from sub-par decision-making to low product uptake and sustainability. She is also a researcher, visiting lecturer, and the founder of “meta-decisions.”

In a US study, social researchers Alex Berke and Kent Larson investigated whether vegetarian and vegan labels deter consumers from choosing those options, through both field studies and an online experiment. 

Using real event registration forms, they asked participants to select their meal preference for an upcoming event they were attending. When people clicked on the link to register, they were randomly redirected to select their meal preference out of two possible options, with one of the options labelled as either “vegan” or “vegetarian.” The forms were then used to conduct a between-subjects experiment comparing the two conditions. 

The result: This study finds that the common practice of adding vegetarian and vegan labels effectively deters consumers from choosing these options; with the negative impact of labels shown to be statistically significant in each of the field studies. They also found that Vegans and Vegetarians were not more likely to choose meat options when labels were absent.

While potentially annoying for those who are vegetarian or vegan, removing these labels may provide an extremely simple and low-cost means for restaurants and other institutions to reduce their environmental impact –, with minimal changes to menus, and without impacting freedom of choice. 

Vegans and vegetarians represent a distinct minority, comprising only about 5% of the population in the US. They are accustomed to investing extra effort to find suitable options on restaurant menus. However, in promoting plant-based dining, it might be more effective to focus on encouraging meat eaters to explore vegan and vegetarian dishes. Nonetheless, the use of labels can inadvertently trigger psychological biases, which makes individuals feel like they’re making a sacrifice or compromising on flavour. By emphasising the deliciousness of these dishes without spotlighting their vegan or vegetarian nature, we can entice a broader audience to make planet-friendly food choices.

Are you aware of any other nudges that promote planet-friendly diets? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com

From Kate Napoli, Behavioural Science & Strategy Director at creative communications agency, alt/shift/, and guest lecturer for The University of Melbourne Masters of Applied Psychology. Her work applies behavioural science to create more effective creative communications, particularly across fields of sustainability, road safety and public health. An avid foodie, Kate is interested in the intersection of behavioural science and sustainable consumption choices. 

In October 2021, Google Maps initiated a noteworthy change to promote environmentally responsible driving decisions. They introduced an eco-friendly route as the default choice for users, effectively embedding a „green nudge“ within their platform. This eco-conscious route is calculated using Google’s innovative routing model, which takes into account variables such as road incline, and traffic congestion, to optimise routes for reduced fuel consumption. In cases where the estimated time of arrival (ETA) for the eco-friendly route aligns with that of the fastest route, it is automatically presented as the default option. Even when the fuel-efficient route is not the quickest, users can effortlessly compare fuel savings and time differentials between the two routes with just a few taps.

The result: Since its U.S. and Canada launch, this intervention has already contributed to an annual reduction of over 1 million metric tons of carbon emissions, effectively eliminating the environmental impact of more than 200,000 fuel-powered cars. Notably, this eco-conscious feature has since extended to over 40 European countries as of 2022, including nations like France, Ireland, Spain, and the UK. In these regions, users can now specify their vehicle’s engine type, enabling a more precise estimation of eco-friendly routes.

Are you aware of any other nudges that help to reduce carbon emissions? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com

From Lucas Yew who is a behavioural and experimental economics graduate from the University of East Anglia. He designed a lab experiment to study how information overload affects consumers’ purchasing decisions for his master’s dissertation. Currently, he works as a student opportunities intern at the UEA, where he enhances internship experience for students by applying behavioural insights to the processes. With his background in risk advisory and behavioural science, he welcomes challenges that can drive impactful solutions with behavioural insights.

Addressing this concern, Nelson KM, Bauer MK, and Partelow S conducted two experiments exploring the efficacy of positive and negative framing in messaging. They wanted to see if the way we talk about snorkelling guidelines makes a difference in how people behave during their underwater adventures.

Let’s focus on their second experiment. They looked at how the „vibe“ of the instructions, whether they were positive or negative, affected what people did while snorkelling. Positive framing is like using “happy” language, and “negative” framing is more like a serious tone.

The result: When people got the sunny, positive instructions, they were less likely to accidentally bump into things underwater (with only 0.39 impacts on average). In contrast, those who received the more serious, negative instructions averaged 0.62 impacts. These numbers were much lower with folks who didn’t get any special instructions (with an average of 1.34 impacts).

In a nutshell, the study showed that using positive language and energy in snorkelling briefings tends to work best. But here’s the cool part: both the „happy“ and „serious“ instructions helped reduce bumping into stuff while snorkelling. So, providing a pleasant atmosphere about it is the way to go, but even a serious talk can make a difference in protecting the underwater world.

Are you aware of any other nudges that help to preserve nature? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com

From Luisa Ropio, representing the Nova Nudge Club, a student-led nudge unit affiliated with Nova School of Business and Economics – a leading business school in Portugal. The club specialises in assisting smaller, impact-driven companies in effectively implementing behaviorally-aligned solutions

In collaboration with Rijkswaterstaat and the municipality of Dordrecht, Shift Gedrag developed an effective solution to reduce this undesirable behaviour and promote a more sustainable approach to waste management.

The strategy, which they’ve positioned as „The Green Nudge,“ included multiple interventions:

• Container Wraps with Children’s Drawings: A design competition for children from Prinses Julianaschool, using the winning drawings to decorate the underground containers. This resulted in increased ownership and reduced anonymity.
• Thank You Sign: Informational signs with the message, „Thank you for keeping the container areas clean!“ This sign served as a reminder of the respective behaviour desired and made people aware of their civic responsibility.
• Sidewalk Instructions: This strategy used text and images on the sidewalk near the containers, including contact information for scheduling pickup appointments – to ensure people had quick access to information about bulky waste.
• Flyers: Clean neighbourhood coaches distributed flyers to inform residents about the intervention and waste disposal options; including translations in various languages to enhance accessibility.
• WhatsApp Trial: As part of the pilot, residents could have bulky waste picked up by simply sending a WhatsApp message to HVC. This lowered the threshold for scheduling a pickup appointment.

The results: 

1. Bulky Waste: After the implementation of the intervention, incidents of illegal dumping of bulky waste near the underground containers decreased by a remarkable 85%. Conclusively representing a significant behavioural change.
2. Residual Waste: Incidents of illegally dumped bags of residual waste also decreased by 54%, indicating a positive trend toward more sustainable waste management.
3. Plastic Waste: While the results for illegally dumped bags of plastic waste were not yet significant, there was a promising decrease in the intervention area. No comparable improvement was observed at the control site.

Are you aware of any other nudges that that reduce littering? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com

From psychologist Roos Alink who is a director at Dutch Shift Gedrag. Shift Gedrag helps governmental organisations to make the Netherlands more sustainable and safe with behavioural insights.  

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, Chinese policymakers set an ambitious target to reduce SUC usage by 30% in food deliveries by 2025. To comply with city regulations, Alibaba changed its app by using green nudges to reduce single-use cutlery.

Ele.me changed its app interface in the following ways:  (i) by adding a pop-up window that required customers to explicitly choose the number of SUC sets with their orders, (ii) by setting the default for this pop-up window to be “no cutlery,” and (iii) by providing a small non monetary incentive (green points) to those choosing the no-cutlery option. The green points do not have a monetary value, but if one accumulates enough points, they can be redeemed in exchange for planting a real tree (under the customer’s name) in a desert area in China.

The results: Guojun He, Professor at the University of Hong Kong, and colleagues (2023) conducted a longitudinal study to evaluate the effectiveness of the green nudges mentioned above in reducing individuals’ SUC consumption. The findings show the following:

1. Increased Non-Cutlery Choices: Green nudges reduce the demand for SUC and exhibit a persistent effect.
2. Diverse Behaviour Impact: Green nudges encourage a significant portion of individuals to make moderate behavioural changes.
3. Positive Business Outcome: Green nudges are cost effective in reducing single-use cutlery (SUC) waste without compromising economic outcomes.
4. Environmental Impact: By extrapolating the results, should China nationwide adopt green nudges, the country alone could save over 21.75 billion SUC sets annually, while conserving 5.44 million trees.

Feel free to check out a different intervention that also aims at reducing plastic cutlery usage here.

Are you aware of any other nudges that promote environmental-friendly behaviour? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com

From Jie Tang, a graduate student studying at the Institute of psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her research interests focus on understanding the mechanisms of attitude-behaviour gaps in sustainable behaviour, and promoting individuals’ pro-environmental decision making and wellbeing.  

A digital campaign with the headline: “What kind of landlord are you?” spread across banner ads on property websites and native videos on channels such as YouTube, was created to provoke specific attention from landlords. The EAST framework – making actions Easy, Attractive, Social, and Timely – was used to craft these landlord tailored messages. The messages emphasised getting help from experts (Easy), highlighted attractive savings (Attractive), underlined that other caring landlords provide healthy homes by insulating their properties (Social) and underscored the necessity of acting swiftly to capitalise on limited available subsidies (Timely).

The result: The “Attractive” message, highlighting savings resonated most, leading to a 315% increase in banner ad clicks and a 162% rise in video ad clicks. It was evident that landlords were particularly motivated by the attractively framed subsidy („Getting 50% towards the cost of insulating your rental is the astute kind“). Achievements didn’t stop there: the behavioural-driven messaging reeled in 8,283 referral leads, surpassing the 6,000 target. More impressively, 1,888 insulations were installed, outdoing the 1,200 goal.

Has anyone encountered other behavioural strategies driving positive action? We’d love to hear more or connect at: hello@green-nudges.com

From Vishal George who has been Head of Behavioural Science at Ogilvy NZ. This project is a result of the collaborative efforts of the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority (EECA) and the behavioural science team at Ogilvy. Their mission: to motivate New Zealand landlords to insulate their properties.

The pledge, written by the children of the island, asked visitors to embrace the culture, respect the environment and make sure that “the only footprints I shall leave are those that will wash away.” The stamps were produced in the five major visitor languages: Japanese, Korean, English, Chinese, and Taiwanese.

The result: Unfortunately the impact could not be measured and isolated. According to Havas, 96% of tourists said “the pledge made them consider their actions more closely,” while 65% said they used the pledge’s principles during their stay to remind others about the right way to protect Palau’s delicate environment. 

While specific behavioural data for the effectiveness of the intervention is lacking, research on the signature effect and its influence on behaviour has been explored in various contexts:

• Psychological Commitment: When individuals physically sign their names on a document or pledge, it creates a sense of personal commitment. They are more likely to follow through with the promise they’ve made because it aligns with their self-image as someone who keeps their word. 
• Identity Alignment: When tourists sign the pledge, they are not just making a commitment; they are aligning themselves with a specific identity – that of a responsible and environmentally conscious traveller. By signing, tourists signal to themselves and others that they are part of a group that values environmental preservation, which can lead to behaviour that supports this identity.
• Social Norm Formation: Tourists arriving in Palau see others signing the pledge and conform to this social norm, making responsible behaviour the expected and accepted standard.
  

Are you aware of any other nudges that promote sustainable tourism? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com

Are you aware of any other nudges that help save water? Feel free to comment or get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com

From Kimberley van der Heijden who is a behavioural scientist that obtained her PhD in consumer behaviour at Maastricht University and is working as a lecturer in consumer psychology at the Hotel Management School Maastricht. In her work, she enjoys combining theory with practice – applying academic theory to industry challenges. The current study on towel reuse in the hospitality industry is one of her favourite examples to share with her students; the study demonstrates how hotels try to run their businesses in a more sustainable manner.