Nudge
Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
By Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein
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(Yale University Press, $26)
With subtle persuasion — nudges — people can make better decisions and lead more fulfilling lives, say the authors, professors of behavioral science/economics and law at the University of Chicago.
1. Choice architects, those who have the authority to make decisions that affect groups, can improve the lives of those they shepherd by designing user-friendly environments. If the good decision is the easy one, people will opt for it.
2. Rare, difficult choices — like investing in a savings plan — are better candidates for nudges than routine ones.
3. “In many cases, individuals make pretty bad decisions — decisions they would not have made if they had paid full attention and possessed complete information, unlimited cognitive abilities, and complete self-control.”
4. Just as weight gain can be contagious (“people who know obese people are more likely to be obese themselves”), so, too, can weight loss. We nudge our peers; they nudge us.
5. A choice architect can nudge by simply making information about various options more comprehensible, thereby making the better choice more obvious to the chooser.