Nudge and Sludge
This term describes difficult processes designed to create friction, such as trying to delete a social media account or cancel a subscription.
Sludge
Research suggests fear appeals are most effective when they focus attention on an issue and are paired with this.
What is a Solution (or clear action step)?
This strategy involves focusing attention on the positive qualities of an option so we feel it is "good enough" and stop considering alternatives.
Satisficing
This persuasion principle suggests that people feel obliged to give back when they receive something, a concept explored in the "Connect 4" activity.
What is Reciprocity?
To illustrate "sludge," the lesson highlights the difficulty of deleting an account on this specific social media platform (often contrasting the app vs. the account settings).
What is Instagram (or Facebook)?
He is the behavioral economist featured in a video explaining the concepts of "good and bad" sludge.
Cass Sunstein
In the Griskevicius et al. (2009) study, this type of message (e.g., "Visited by over a million people") worked better than "scarcity" after participants watched a scary movie.
What is Social Proof?
This specific type of question is a priming technique used to increase agreement with requests for action.
In the "Curveball Study," the phrase "Stand out from the crowd" was used to test this specific persuasion technique.
What is Scarcity?
The class analyzed data regarding this medical decision in the US vs. other countries to understand the power of "Default Nudges."
What is Organ Donation?
This type of nudge relies on the tendency to stick with a pre-set option, heavily influencing data like organ donation rates.
What is a Default Nudge?
Feinberg & Willer (2011) found that for people with this specific belief, dire messages about climate change can actually backfire.
What is the Just World Hypothesis?
Humans are often described by this term because we prefer to solve problems using the least amount of mental effort possible
What is a Cognitive Miser?
This process involves influencing behavior by activating mental associations, such as using specific images to "set the stage" for a decision.
What is Priming?
A specific example of "sludge" mentioned in the text is the complex process of applying for "home student fees" at universities in this country.
What is the UK (United Kingdom)?
Alongside deleting social media, the lesson lists "trying to cancel" these after a free period as a primary example of sludge.
What are Subscriptions (or Free Trials)?
In the De Hoog et al. (2008) study, this specific health condition was used to test how vulnerability and message intensity affect behavior.
What is Hypoglycemia?
This concept explains how curiosity about new information can influence behavior.
What is Novelty?
The "Clouds vs. Pennies" experiment showed that seeing pennies primed participants to care more about this specific product feature.
What is Cost (or Price)?
In the "Persuasive Plays" activity, students analyzed strategies named after "plays" from this specific sport.
What is American Football?
This specific term refers to a nudge that is unethical or has a negative influence on behavior.
Dark nudge
Fear messages are noted to have a greater impact when they align with these unwritten group rules.
What are Social Norms?
In the "Sofa So Good" experiment, seeing clouds on a webpage primed participants to care more about this product feature.
What is Comfort?
The "Juveniles at the Zoo" stimulus was used to teach this principle, which suggests people like to stick to their previous commitments or identities.
What is Consistency?
To reduce spillage and cleaning costs, this airport in famously etched a photorealistic image of a housefly into their urinals.
What is Schiphol Airport?