Nudging for Nature – Does it work? Contact: Dr. Christina Gravert University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics Tel: +46 (0) Our Aim: “To investigate in cooperation with organizations, companies and municipalities when and why nudges affect consumers towards making more environmentally friendly and healthy decisions”

2 What is Nudging? The concept of nudging, using a soft push in the direction of desired behavior by using knowledge from behavioral science is a novel way of reaching higher order goals such as sustainable consumption without restricting people in their daily lives. Thaler and Sunstein (2008) defines a nudge as: “... any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives. To count as a mere nudge, the intervention must be easy and cheap to avoid. Nudges are not mandates. Putting the fruit at eye level counts as a nudge. Banning junk food does not.” Since nudges can be implemented by the state, by organizations, by companies and even in private households and the average costs of a nudge are negligible and often only consist out of improving on already established choice architecture, there is a potential for making an impact on sustainable consumption. Nudging is an application of behavioral insights to policy making

3 Does Nudging work? A number of studies have shown that Nudging can increase sustainable behavior Introducing smaller plates at a buffet decreased the food waste Sending mail reminders to pilots to fly efficiently decreased the fuel use Setting printers to “duplex” by default led to a reduction in paper usage Making households aware of their energy and comparing them to their neighbors decreased household energy consumption

4 What are we looking for? All good evidence we have at the moment about whether and how nudging works comes from experimental studies in collaboration with organizations. We are now carrying out research on Nudging for Sustainability in Sweden. This project is funded by Naturvårdsverket. Therefore we are looking for interested organizations, companies, municipalities to work together with us in investigating how Nudging can successfully be used to promote sustainable behavior. Possible topics are: Reducing food waste Decreasing meat consumption Decreasing energy consumption Increasing recycling Increasing public transport usage …

5 How do we know which Nudge works? The only way to truly understand the mechanisms behind a behavior change is to carry out an experimental study with a treatment and a control group. A lot of money and time continues to be spent on something that may or may not be effective or maybe even harmful. Luckily, it is easy to learn about what truly works and what doesn’t and it is not very different or more difficult than what most practitioners already do. This is not an experiment: This is an experiment: What is usually done An appropriate evaluation

6 How to experiment The basic structure of an experimental design What is the ”unsustainable” behavior you want to change? Question How can this outcome be measured quantitatively? Can we use an existing process? Measurement Randomly assign users, customers or employees into the treatment and into the control group. Randomize Observe behavior and then compare the outcome in both groups at the same point in time. Analyse What have we learned about human behavior in general? Economic or psychological theory on human behavior Practitioners Researchers ”Placebo Pill” Control ”Real Pill” Treatment 50%

7 We are looking for organizations that are willing to try a new, scientifically valid way of evaluating what works for reaching their sustainability goals 1.You should have a strong desire to reach your sustainability goals 2.You should be willing to try a new approach to evaluating your goals 3.You should be able to observe (that means record as data) decisions that people take (kgs of food waste, kwh of energy, number of vegetarian meals bought etc.) 4.You need to be willing to supply the data to us for research purposes Who are we looking for? What you need to bring to the table What we bring to the table 1.Extensive experience in carrying out experiments and doing statistical analysis 2.In-depth knowledge of human behavior and environmental economics 3.Since it is a research project, we work for free

8 Who we are This is our team

9 Dr. Christina Gravert For any questions please contact Christina Gravert