When in Doubt, Follow the Crowd? Responsiveness to Social Proof Nudges in the Absence of Clear Preferences

Nudges have gained popularity as a behavioral change tool that aims to facilitate the selection of the sensible choice option by altering the way choice options are presented. Although nudges are designed to facilitate these choices without interfering with people’s prior preferences, both the relat...

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Main Authors:	Tina A. G. Venema, Floor M. Kroese, Jeroen S. Benjamins, Denise T. D. de Ridder
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-06-01
Series:	Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:	nudge social proof uncertainty conflict preferences indifference
Online Access:	https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01385/full

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spelling	doaj-bb946049b71446118362b450502894bd2020-11-25T04:04:05ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-06-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.01385499433When in Doubt, Follow the Crowd? Responsiveness to Social Proof Nudges in the Absence of Clear PreferencesTina A. G. Venema0Tina A. G. Venema1Floor M. Kroese2Jeroen S. Benjamins3Jeroen S. Benjamins4Denise T. D. de Ridder5Department of Social, Health and Organisational Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsDepartment of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, DenmarkDepartment of Social, Health and Organisational Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsDepartment of Social, Health and Organisational Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsDepartment of Social, Health and Organisational Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsNudges have gained popularity as a behavioral change tool that aims to facilitate the selection of the sensible choice option by altering the way choice options are presented. Although nudges are designed to facilitate these choices without interfering with people’s prior preferences, both the relation between individuals’ prior preferences and nudge effectiveness, as well as the notion that nudges ‘facilitate’ decision-making have received little empirical scrutiny. Two studies examine the hypothesis that a social proof nudge is particularly effective when people have no clear prior preference, either because people are indifferent (in a color-categorization task; Study 1, N = 255) or because people experience a choice conflict (making shopping decisions about meat products; Study 2, N = 97). Both studies employed a social proof nudge to steer participants’ choices. The potential facilitating effect of the nudge was tested using a mouse-tracker paradigm that implicitly assessed experienced uncertainty during decision-making. Results showed that the nudge was effective in steering participants’ decisions; the facilitation effect (i.e., reduced uncertainty regarding the decision) was only observed for conflicting preferences, but not under indifference. A better understanding of when and how nudges can influence individuals’ behavior may help in deciding whether nudges are an appropriate policy tool for changing particular undesirable behavior.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01385/fullnudgesocial proofuncertaintyconflictpreferencesindifference
collection	DOAJ
language	English
format	Article
sources	DOAJ
author	Tina A. G. Venema Tina A. G. Venema Floor M. Kroese Jeroen S. Benjamins Jeroen S. Benjamins Denise T. D. de Ridder
spellingShingle	Tina A. G. Venema Tina A. G. Venema Floor M. Kroese Jeroen S. Benjamins Jeroen S. Benjamins Denise T. D. de Ridder When in Doubt, Follow the Crowd? Responsiveness to Social Proof Nudges in the Absence of Clear Preferences Frontiers in Psychology nudge social proof uncertainty conflict preferences indifference
author_facet	Tina A. G. Venema Tina A. G. Venema Floor M. Kroese Jeroen S. Benjamins Jeroen S. Benjamins Denise T. D. de Ridder
author_sort	Tina A. G. Venema
title	When in Doubt, Follow the Crowd? Responsiveness to Social Proof Nudges in the Absence of Clear Preferences
title_short	When in Doubt, Follow the Crowd? Responsiveness to Social Proof Nudges in the Absence of Clear Preferences
title_full	When in Doubt, Follow the Crowd? Responsiveness to Social Proof Nudges in the Absence of Clear Preferences
title_fullStr	When in Doubt, Follow the Crowd? Responsiveness to Social Proof Nudges in the Absence of Clear Preferences
title_full_unstemmed	When in Doubt, Follow the Crowd? Responsiveness to Social Proof Nudges in the Absence of Clear Preferences
title_sort	when in doubt, follow the crowd? responsiveness to social proof nudges in the absence of clear preferences
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
series	Frontiers in Psychology
issn	1664-1078
publishDate	2020-06-01
description	Nudges have gained popularity as a behavioral change tool that aims to facilitate the selection of the sensible choice option by altering the way choice options are presented. Although nudges are designed to facilitate these choices without interfering with people’s prior preferences, both the relation between individuals’ prior preferences and nudge effectiveness, as well as the notion that nudges ‘facilitate’ decision-making have received little empirical scrutiny. Two studies examine the hypothesis that a social proof nudge is particularly effective when people have no clear prior preference, either because people are indifferent (in a color-categorization task; Study 1, N = 255) or because people experience a choice conflict (making shopping decisions about meat products; Study 2, N = 97). Both studies employed a social proof nudge to steer participants’ choices. The potential facilitating effect of the nudge was tested using a mouse-tracker paradigm that implicitly assessed experienced uncertainty during decision-making. Results showed that the nudge was effective in steering participants’ decisions; the facilitation effect (i.e., reduced uncertainty regarding the decision) was only observed for conflicting preferences, but not under indifference. A better understanding of when and how nudges can influence individuals’ behavior may help in deciding whether nudges are an appropriate policy tool for changing particular undesirable behavior.
topic	nudge social proof uncertainty conflict preferences indifference
url	https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01385/full
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When in Doubt, Follow the Crowd? Responsiveness to Social Proof Nudges in the Absence of Clear Preferences

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