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Nudges Do Not Undermine Human Agency

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  • Cass Sunstein

Abstract

Some people believe that nudges undermine human agency, but with appropriate nudges, neither agency nor consumer freedom is at risk. On the contrary, nudges can promote both goals. In some contexts, they are indispensable. There is no opposition between education on the one hand and nudges on the other. Many nudges are educative. Even when they are not, they can complement, and not displace, consumer education. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Cass Sunstein, 2015. "Nudges Do Not Undermine Human Agency," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 207-210, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jcopol:v:38:y:2015:i:3:p:207-210
    DOI: 10.1007/s10603-015-9289-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Saurabh Bhargava & George Loewenstein & Justin Sydnor, 2015. "Do Individuals Make Sensible Health Insurance Decisions? Evidence from a Menu with Dominated Options," NBER Working Papers 21160, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Dominic Lemken & Ainslee Erhard & Simone Wahnschafft, 2024. "A choice architect’s guide to the (autonomous) galaxy: a systematic scoping review of nudge intrusiveness in food choices," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Diederich, Johannes & Goeschl, Timo & Waichman, Israel, 2023. "Self-nudging is more ethical, but less efficient than social nudging," VfS Annual Conference 2023 (Regensburg): Growth and the "sociale Frage" 277679, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Oliver Nnamdi Okafor, 2023. "Shaming of Tax Evaders: Empirical Evidence on Perceptions of Retributive Justice and Tax Compliance Intentions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(2), pages 377-395, January.
    4. Clareta Treger, 2023. "When do people accept government paternalism? Theory and experimental evidence," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(1), pages 195-214, January.
    5. Wachner, Jonas & Adriaanse, Marieke & Hoven, Mariette van den & de Ridder, Denise, 2022. "Does default organ donation registration compromise autonomous choice? Public responses to a new donor registration system," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(9), pages 899-905.
    6. Naira R. Matevosyan, 2018. "Rediscovering Comte de Saint-Simon: From Aristocracy to Meritocracy, a Journey to Inclusion," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(1), pages 1-16, March.
    7. E. Reijnen & S. J. Kühne & H. M. Gugelberg & A. Crameri, 2019. "Nudged to a Menu Position: The Role of “I’m Loving It”!," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 441-453, September.
    8. Joseph L. Scarpaci & Benjamin K. Sovacool & Ronnie Ballantyne, 2016. "A Critical Review of the Costs of Advertising: a Transformative Consumer Research Perspective," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 119-140, June.
    9. Diederich, Johannes & Goeschl, Timo & Waichman, Israel, 2022. "Self-Nudging vs. Social Nudging in Social Dilemmas: An Experiment," Working Papers 0710, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.

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