rotmanmagazine.ca / 33PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ‘NUDGING’ EACH OTHER for as long as humankind
has existed. We are always busy persuading and encouraging
those around us to do one thing or another. Indeed, many biolo-
gists think that much of human development was powered by the
complex patterns of influence that characterized early human
social groups.
Yet when it comes to governments and businesses, many
have turned their backs on the messy skills of ‘softer persuasion’.
Instead, they have packed their toolkits with tools shaped by the
‘rational’ disciplines of Economics and Law.
In recent years, however, governments and businesses alike
have started rediscovering this wider set of influences on human
behaviour. It has been a fascinating rediscovery.
Defining the Nudge
A ‘nudge’ is essentially a means of encouraging or guiding be-
haviour, but without mandating or instructing, and ideally, with-
out the need for heavy incentives or sanctions. In everyday life,
it’s a gentle hint; a suggestion; a conspicuous glance at a heap
of clothes that we’re hoping our kids might clear away. Nudges
stand in marked contrast to obligations, strict requirements or
the use of force. For Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler, origi-
nators of the concept, a key element is that nudges avoid shut-
ting down choices, unlike laws or other formal requirements. As
we shall see, nudges are a subset of a wider, more empirical and
behaviourally-focused approach to policymaking.
Consider how a law actually works: A parliament or execu-
tive passes a resolution that says that henceforth, there will be
a new requirement for people or businesses to do something in
a particular way. The lawmaker normally attaches a sanction
or penalty to those who fail to comply, such as a fine or impris-
onment. But the link between the passing of the law and actual
behaviour is very distant.
Laws are also premised on an arguably naive model of hu-
man behaviour: They assume that somehow, people will have
heard about the new law and realized that it applies to them.
They then assume that people will weigh the costs of breaking
the new law with the risk of being caught, and conclude that they
should comply. They also assume that in the moment and con-
text of temptation, all of this will come to mind, and that these