34% decrease in missed appointments by advising of cost The concept of a ‘nudge’ was first documented by Richard Thaler. He chronicled the example of a Swedish study in which the behaviour of male tavern patrons was influenced by painting a fly in a white urinal bowl. This simple innovation led to a 30% drop […]

34% decrease in missed appointments by advising of cost The concept of a ‘nudge’ was first documented by Richard Thaler. He chronicled the example of a Swedish study in which the behaviour of male tavern patrons was influenced by painting a fly in a white urinal bowl. This simple innovation led to a 30% drop in spillage. This study was repeated at a university in the United States – using the logo of another university instead of a fly. In this case, spillage was decreased by 50%. These are two examples of nudges used to influence behaviour. More commercially focused examples of nudges include: Asking hamburger customers ‘will you have fries with that?’ Making healthier foods easier to buy than unhealthy foods Showing people how much power they are using in order to reduce consumption In a study of the National Health System in the United Kingdom, it was found…