Can nudges save lives?

Abstract

To assess the promotion of life saving behaviors and determine the sustainability of nudge message effects, this paper examines nudges that promote evacuation during heavy rainfall, preventative COVID-19 infection behaviors, and COVID-19 vaccination. The results showed that altruistic gain messages may have more sustained effects than others in promoting both evacuation during heavy rainfall and contact reduction behaviors as a measure against COVID-19 infection. Specifically, social influence nudges that use a gain frame to convey that a person’s behavior promotes the behavior of others are effective for both heavy rainfall evacuations and encouraging COVID-19 vaccination.

When do persuasive messages on vaccine safety steer COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and recommendations? Behavioural insights from a randomised controlled experiment in Malaysia

“…The use of goal-framed messages that seek to influence behaviour by highlighting benefits achieved or lost depending on vaccination acceptance has been widely explored. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] Dai et al used messages to reduce barriers to schedule a vaccination appointment, provide salient information about vaccine effectiveness, and issue reminders that leveraged on psychological ownership. 25 Messages that detail information promoting personal or collective benefits through vaccination have also been explored.…”

“…Multiple studies have experimented with persuasive messages to influence COVID-19 vaccination intentions. The use of goal-framed messages that seek to influence behaviour by highlighting benefits achieved or lost depending on vaccination acceptance has been widely explored 17–24. Dai et al used messages to reduce barriers to schedule a vaccination appointment, provide salient information about vaccine effectiveness, and issue reminders that leveraged on psychological ownership 25.…”

The Curious Case of Baby Formula in the United States in 2022: Cries for Urgent Action Months after Silence in the Midst of Alarm Bells

“…Given that FDA was already aware of the potential supply chain issues in February and included availability of certain type of infant formula (FDA 2022e ), developing a method of more impactful communication may be helpful for consumers to prepare for future threats. Nudging can be suggested as one method of risk management (Chen et al 2022 ; Ohtake 2022 ; Llopis and Perge 2020 ; Schmidt and Engelen 2020 ). In this case, in order to enhance accessibility to recall announcements, sending alerts to individual media such as smartphone may be considered.…”

Nudging Civilian Evacuation During War: Evidence from Ukraine

“…The authors find that nudges that rely on social norms to encourage early evacuation increase intentions to evacuate and engage in preventive storage behavior (Ohtake, Sakata, & Matsuo, 2020). While there is a large literature on the individual determinants of evacuation from natural disasters (Stein, Dueñas-Osorio, & Subramanian, 2010;Charnkol & Tanaboriboon, 2006;Thiede & Brown, 2013;Ohtake, 2022), it is unclear to what extent the findings from this literature carry over to evacuations from conflict zones, as there are potentially important differences between decisions made during wars and natural disasters. For instance, when a natural disaster occurs, people usually have the option to return to their communities and begin rebuilding several days or weeks after the occurrence (Meyers, 1991).…”