What do Germans really think about health-nudges?

Abstract

Background In recent years, policymakers have increasingly used behaviourally informed policies, including ‘nudges’. They have been implemented to produce desirable social outcomes such as healthier eating and physical activity. In Germany, a small research team at the Federal Chancellery acts as the central unit to promote the introduction of nudges in the design of public life. Despite this, the nudging concept itself as well as the understanding around it has not spread widely among German citizens. When reporting about the concept, German media is often very critical of the concept. Methods Using a for age, sex and educational level nationally representative online survey with 1000 participants, we investigate whether German citizens know about the concept of nudging. We also explore if they approve of the theoretical concept as well as a list of seven specific interventions regarding healthy eating and physical activity. A particular focus is placed on whether the level of approval is dependent on the target group of the intervention, as well as different intervention-initiators. Results We find that nearly 80% of the respondents have never heard of nudging. However when being provided with a definition, we find that a strong majority (90%) supports the concept of nudging as well as all the specific interventions. Acceptance rates are higher if interventions are targeted at the general population compared to only children. All initiators – statutory health insurers, the government, private companies, and independent experts – are accepted as nudge initiators. Conclusion Amongst Germans nudges are an accepted method to promote health behaviours. Policy makers from various fields in Germany should take that into account to improve future health policy.

Digital Nudging for Online Food Choices

“…Also, the fact that satisfaction and choice confidence did not differ between nudged and not nudged participants is promising, given the potentially negative reactions to being influenced or manipulated. Our findings are thus in line with those showing relatively high public approval for nudge interventions in the health domain (Krisam et al, 2021 ).…”

Are You “Nudgeable”? Factors Affecting the Acceptance of Healthy Eating Nudges in a Cafeteria Setting

“…Thus far, no commonly used tool exists to measure nudge acceptance [ 21 ]. Nørnberg and colleagues [ 36 ] proposed a scale for assessing nudge acceptance that we adapted for the present study and translated into German (see Appendix A ).…”

“…No instructions for answering the items on nudge acceptance were provided by Nørnberg and colleagues [ 36 ]. Because Germans are not very familiar with the concept of nudging [ 21 ], we described the nudges as healthy eating interventions ( Appendix A ).…”

“…A representative German sample was described as being open to healthy eating nudges, with 51% of the respondents rating the concept of nudging as (very) positive. Specific nudge interventions, targeted at the general population, were accepted by 71% of the general German population [ 21 ]. Default nudges (e.g., pre-selecting a favorable option) were strongly accepted when applied in a cafeteria to promote healthy eating [ 22 ].…”

Acceptance of healthy lifestyle nudges in the general population of Singapore

“…Surveying 952 people in Sweden and the United States, Hagman et al [ 14 ] reported that strong majorities in both countries were in favour of a wide variety of nudges. Similarly, Krisam et al [ 15 ] reported a strong majority of German citizens endorsing nudges as an accepted method to promote health behaviours. Conversely, countries such as Hungary, Denmark and Japan reported relatively low scores of approvals [ 13 ].…”