Nudge me if you can - how defaults and attitude strength interact to change behavior

Vetter, Max; Kutzner, Florian

doi:10.1080/23743603.2016.1139390

Cited by 41 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…In terms of our participants’ actual green choices, our results support the assumption of attitude‐unconditionally effective defaults (Kaiser, Arnold, et al, ). In contrast to recurrent theoretical claims—but in line with the only previous study that has assessed the interplay of defaults and individual attitudes (Vetter & Kutzner, )—defaults appeared to be effective irrespective of the decision‐maker's attitude. Interestingly, Vetter and Kutzner drew on a more traditional measure of environmental attitude that relies on evaluative statements rather than behavioral self‐reports (i.e., the revised New Ecological Paradigm scale; see Dunlap, Van Liere, Mertig, & Jones, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Choosing the products came with no monetary stakes for the participants and green and conventional defaults had been systematically preselected to be similarly priced. Moreover and in contrast to the previous research (e.g., Brown & Krishna, ; Vetter & Kutzner, ), participants had to decide whether they wanted to accept or reject the default before seeing the alternative options. Some participants may have rejected the default product because they were curious about the available alternatives, hence artificially reducing the main effect of the default (but note that only 0.8% of all alternative product choices were identical to a previously rejected default product).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, participants’ environmental attitude significantly predicted their choice of green energy. Importantly, the default effect on participants’ choice of green energy did not depend on their attitude (Vetter & Kutzner, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

How green defaults promote environmentally friendly decisions: Attitude‐conditional default acceptance but attitude‐unconditional effects on actual choices

Taube

Vetter

2019

J Applied Social Pyschol

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Defaults (i.e., options that become effective without an active choice) have been found to be powerful tools to influence decision‐making in a range of behavioral domains. However, seemingly conflicting assumptions have been expressed regarding the interplay of defaults with individual attitudes. Whereas some expect attitude‐conditional effects (i.e., a statistical default‐by‐attitude interaction), others assume an attitude‐unconditional effectiveness of defaults (i.e., statistically additive effects). Integrating both assumptions, we argue that the interplay of defaults and attitudes depends on what is considered a default effect. Specifically, whereas default acceptance is likely to be attitude‐conditional, we predicted that defaults and attitudes would add up in explaining people's actual choices. We tested these hypotheses in an online shopping scenario presenting environmentally friendly or conventional default products to 231 participants. Participants’ environmental attitude was assessed with the General Ecological Behavior scale and actual product choices were identified if participants rejected a given default product. In line with our hypotheses, default acceptance was predicted by a default‐by‐attitude interaction. In contrast, actual environmentally friendly product choices were found to be an additive function of defaults and participants’ environmental attitude. From an applied perspective, our findings suggest that defaults can readily be applied even in attitude‐heterogeneous target populations. Concurrently, however, our findings also speak of the importance of people's attitudes for understanding individual decision‐making.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

How green defaults promote environmentally friendly decisions: Attitude‐conditional default acceptance but attitude‐unconditional effects on actual choices

Taube

Vetter

2019

J Applied Social Pyschol

Self Cite

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“…Similar to the effect of experience, researchers argue that "insurmountable attitudes" [38] should attenuate the effect of a default [36]. However, experimental work has found that attitude strength only overrides the default effect among those with extremely strong attitudes (i.e., top 7%) and only for very specific attitudes (i.e., toward renewable energy vs. general environmental attitudes) [39]. Hence, there is mixed support for the notion that strong attitudes can override defaults [33].…”

Section: Moderators Of the Default Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adjustable Green Defaults Can Help Make Smart Homes More Sustainable

Sintov

Schultz

2017

Sustainability

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Smart home technologies offer exciting opportunities to promote more efficient uses of energy. For instance, programmable thermostats, centralized lighting controls, and rooftop solar panels all have potential for energy conservation and efficiency. However, these technologies alone will not guarantee energy savings. Whereas previous research on smart homes has focused on the technologies themselves, relatively little work has addressed the factors that shape the human-technology interface. In this review paper, we argue that in order to ensure any savings, smart home technologies must first be adopted by end-users, and once adopted, they must be used in ways that promote energy efficiency. We focus on three areas of behavioral research with implications for smart home technologies: (1) defaults; (2) perceived adjustability or control; and (3) trust in automation. Linking these areas, we propose a new concept for improving the efficiency gains of smart homes. First, although smart device controls can help save energy, considerably larger energy efficiency gains can be realized through smart automation. But importantly, the default settings of systems should be "green", to maximize energy savings. Second, many people have concerns around relinquishing decision-making to technologies, which can reduce the likelihood of adoption. People want to be, or at least to feel, in control of their homes, even if they do not adjust settings post-installation. Further, consumer trust in technologies encourages adoption in the first place; trust also impacts consumer interactions with installed devices and can impact default acceptance. Combining these concepts, we recommend that smart home technologies build consumer trust and come pre-programmed with adjustable green defaults, which permit consumers to change initial green settings.

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“…Equally, Momsen and Stoerk (2014) found in a lab experiments that green default nudges increased the share of individuals who choose renewable energy by 44.6%. Most recently, Vetter and Kutzner (2016) found a strong effect of the default manipulation on choices; they did, however, find no moderating effect of general proenvironmental attitudes on these choices. 12 Today Energiedienst Holding AG, see https://www.energiedienst.…”

Section: A Green Energymentioning

confidence: 99%