Wouldn’t You Rather…
The latest in a series of books with literal one-word titles, Nudge explains that our free-will is not our own, and that our decisions are heavily influenced by the choices we’re given and how these options are presented.
Authors Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein discuss examples from 401K plans to supermarket layouts. Everyone’s heard about how producers pay for product placement at supermarkets. In some ways the book repackages things we already know (i.e.: buy insurance with the highest deductable possible; invest aggressively in your retirement fund).
But of course, I thought of ACUHO-I’s members when I read the NY Times book review on Nudge. ACUHO-I’s members are often trying to persuade people – mainly students – to make certain choices over others, but the tricky part is doing this without the source of the persuasion being obvious. If students think the administration at their school would particularly like them to choose one option over another, they might be less inclined to do so. The mask of Authority tends to blunt the attractiveness of that option.
What are your “nudges” aimed at students? How would you like to “nudge” them, but can’t figure out how? How are you “nudged” in your daily life?
Tags: Students