The concept of nudging

: how power impacts one’s susceptibility to nudges and the intention to influence others through nudges

Abstract

Nudges are behavioural interventions that guide people's decisions toward more desirable options. Nudging as a tool to influence people's decision-making is a matter of great debate, with particular emphasis on issues such as power distribution, pre-existing preferences and information that may result in biases, as well as the premise that nudges primarily affect people when they are in irrational modes of thinking. Within this discussion, I advance empirical insights into how power affects people's sensitivity to nudges as well as their behaviour towards using nudges on others. The current study examines therefore two parts, the impact of perceived power on people's nudging behaviour and the behaviour towards nudging mechanisms of the targeted individual. I hypothesized that power has a great influence in the nudged behaviour of individuals and their desire towards using it. I look at experimental data and evaluate if power impacts one’s susceptibility to nudges and if the perceived power level might moderate effects such as comfortability, nudge acceptance or the likelihood to use nudges.

Date of Award	3 May 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Filipa de Almeida (Supervisor)