Under consumers’ scrutiny - an investigation into consumers’ attitudes and concerns about nudging in the realm of health behavior
Autor: | Junghans, Astrid F, Cheung, Tracy T L, De Ridder, Denise D T, Leerstoel Ridder, Stress and self-regulation |
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Přispěvatelé: | Leerstoel Ridder, Stress and self-regulation |
Jazyk: | angličtina |
Předmět: |
Adult
Male Health Knowledge Attitudes Practice Scrutiny Public policy media_common.quotation_subject Decision Making Health Behavior Informal Context (language use) Trust Behavioral economics Choice Behavior Body Mass Index Interviews as Topic Cognition Promotion (rank) Liberal paternalism Humans Medicine Qualitative Research Nudging media_common Practice Social Control Motivation Nudge theory business.industry Health Knowledge Great Britain Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Social Control Informal Middle Aged Public relations United Kingdom Incentive Attitude Socioeconomic Factors Health Attitudes business Research Article Qualitative research |
Zdroj: | BMC Public Health BMC Public Health, 15. BioMed Central |
ISSN: | 1471-2458 |
DOI: | 10.1186/s12889-015-1691-8 |
Popis: | BACKGROUND: Nudging strategies have recently attracted attention from scholars and policy makers for their potential in influencing people's behaviors on large scales. But is the fact that nudges do not forbid any choice-options or significantly alter people's economic incentives sufficient to conclude that nudges should be implemented? While this is discussed amongst scholars from various disciplines the voices of consumers, the target-group of nudges, remain unheard. Since understanding their knowledge about nudging and their opinions on being nudged are crucial for the evaluation of the moral appropriateness of nudging, the current study examines consumers' knowledge of and attitudes toward nudging in general and the realm of health behavior. METHODS: In this qualitative investigation in-depth semi-structured interviews with UK consumers were conducted to examine consumers' attitudes to four domains of inquiry around which the scholarly discussions about nudging have revolved: consumers' approval of nudging, consumers' views on the origin of nudges, consumers' perceived effectiveness of nudging, and consumers' concerns about manipulative aspects of nudging. RESULTS: Interviews revealed that consumers are largely unfamiliar with the concept of nudging altogether. Once defined and explained to them most consumers approve of the concept, especially in the realm of health behavior, given particular conditions: 1. Nudges should be designed for benefiting individuals and society; 2. consumers comprehend the decision-making context and the reasoning behind the promotion of the targeted behavior. Interviews revealed very limited concerns with manipulative aspects of nudges. CONCLUSIONS: These findings call for better information-management to ensure consumers knowledge of nudges and awareness of their current implementation. Under that condition the findings encourage the implementation of nudges benefitting individuals and society in domains that consumers comprehend, such as health behaviors. Further research is required to clarify consumers' concerns and requirements for nudges in more complex domains such as financial decisions and retirement plans. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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