Nudging is Ineffective When Attitudes Are Unsupportive: An Example from a Natural Field Experiment

Figures & data

Figure 1. Schematic display of the study procedure.

Figure 2. Percentage of employees wearing their lanyard per measurement (bold) and per counting instance (non-bold). Supervisors form a subgroup of employees. Due to the small number of supervisors per counting instance, only the average over all counting instances is displayed for them.

Table 1. Summary statistics for the ω_c and ω_{c – c’} parameters.

Parameter	Mode	ESS	95% HDI
			low	high
ωM1	.470	189,382	.415	.525
ωM2	.537	238,188	.477	.596
ωM3	.525	271,881	.472	.577
ωM4	.530	309,958	.469	.588
ωM2 – ωM1	.066	181,538	–.014	.147
ωM3 – ωM2	–.012	279,745	–.090	.066
ωM4 – ωM3	.002	310,351	–.074	.081

ESS: effective sample size.

Figure 3. Answer distributions for self-reported compliance (left) and paternalism ratings of the nudges (right).

Table 2. Codes related to the lanyard policy and the nudges with a minimum prevalence of 10%.

Prevalence	Code	Quotes (translated)
Lanyard policy
35% (50)	Fine	“fine,” “good,” “I find it nice”
27% (39)	Incomprehension	“I don’t find it necessary,” “We already occupy a locked area where it is difficult to enter”
25% (36)	Comprehension	“I have comprehension for it,” “good for recognizability”
18% (26)	Negative	“terrible,” “not pleasant,” “going too far”
15% (22)	Visibly suffices	“Wearing it well visibly seems okay to me as well”
11% (15)	Separate position	“It’s strange that it only applies to us,” “It’s in the way of connecting with other branches”
Nudges
37% (53)	Positive/fine	“fine,” “playful,” “clear,” “fine, good stimulation”
29% (41)	Negative	“irritating,” “a bit too much,” “annoying”
18% (25)	Incomprehension	“unnecessary,” “I think a message about it is already enough”
16% (23)	Paternalistic	“patronizing,” “authoritarian,” “pedantic”
10% (14)	Mirror positive	“I find the mirrors useful though”
Explanation for the paternalism ratings
16% (23)	Incomprehension	“I don’t need a sticker to be reminded to wear it”
14% (20)	Negative	“Too much of a ‘hassle’,” “The message was conveyed too often and to prominently,” “Language was not nice”
13% (19)	Childish	“childish,” “elementary-school-like,” “We are professionals. Treat me accordingly”
11% (16)	Paternalistic	“patronizing,” “authoritarian,” “pedantic”
11% (16)	Unjust treatment	“Seems like you don’t dare to talk to each other anymore,” “Seem like that employees of […] can’t think for themselves anymore”

Figure 4. Co-occurrence of codes related to the nudges and the lanyard policy.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.