Skraldespanden der skiltede med et nudge

Abstract

Studies show that 90 % of the Danish population thinks it is wrong to litter in the streets, but paradoxically most of them do it anyway. Why don’t individuals always make the most appropriate decisions, and how can we change this behaviour without restricting their free choice? In Richard H. Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s book Nudge Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness (2009) they argue that there is a nonintrusive method to change this unfortunate behaviour, called Nudge. We have used Cristina Bicchieris theories about social and descriptive norms and Pelle Guldborg Hansens theory about ‘common knowledge’ to complete our understanding of this behavioural topic. This has pointed us in a direction of designing a visibility based nudge that activates the human cognitive reflection system. We will argue that this nudge has potential of reducing the amount of litter in the streets and, in time, change the harmful behaviour of individuals in the public space.