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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2019

Open Access 01-12-2019 | Research article

Cueing healthier alternatives for take-away: a field experiment on the effects of (disclosing) three nudges on food choices

Authors: Tracy T. L. Cheung, Marleen Gillebaart, Floor M. Kroese, David Marchiori, Bob M. Fennis, Denise T. D. De Ridder

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2019

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Abstract

Background

The current field experiment demonstrates the effectiveness of nudging to promote healthy food choices.

Methods

Three types of nudges were implemented at a take-away food vendor: 1) an accessibility nudge that placed fruits at the front counter; 2) a salience nudge that presented healthy bread rolls to be more visually attractive; and 3) a social proof nudge that conveyed yoghurt as a popular choice. We additionally assessed whether nudging effects would remain robust when a disclosure message was included. The field experiment was conducted over a seven-week period. The measured outcome was the sales of the targeted healthy food products.

Results

The accessibility nudge significantly increased the sales of the fresh fruits. The impact of the salience nudge was limited presumably due to existing preferences or habits that typically facilitate bread purchases. As the sales of the yoghurt shakes remained consistently low over the seven-week period the impact of the social proof nudge remained unexamined. Critically, disclosing the purpose of the nudges did not interfere with effects.

Conclusions

Current findings suggest nudging as an effective strategy for healthy food promotion, and offer implications for topical debate regarding the ethics of nudges.
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Metadata
Title
Cueing healthier alternatives for take-away: a field experiment on the effects of (disclosing) three nudges on food choices
Authors
Tracy T. L. Cheung
Marleen Gillebaart
Floor M. Kroese
David Marchiori
Bob M. Fennis
Denise T. D. De Ridder
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2019
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7323-y

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