Nudge Theory

Nudge theory is a flexible and modern concept for:

• understanding of how people think, make decisions, and behave,
• helping people improve their thinking and decisions,
• managing change of all sorts, and
• identifying and modifying existing unhelpful influences on people.

Nudge theory was named and popularized by the 2008 book, 'Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness', written by American academics Richard H Thaler and Cass R Sunstein. The book is based strongly on the Nobel prize-winning work of the Israeli-American psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.

This article:

• reviews and explains Thaler and Sunstein's 'Nudge' concept, especially 'heuristics' (tendencies for humans to think and decide instinctively and often mistakenly)
• relates 'Nudge' methods to other theories and models, and to Kahneman and Tversky's work
• defines and describes additional methods of 'nudging' people and groups
• extends the appreciation and application of 'Nudge' methodology to broader change-management, motivation, leadership, coaching, counselling, parenting, etc
• offers 'Nudge' methods and related concepts as a 'Nudge' theory 'toolkit' so that the concept can be taught and applied in a wide range of situations involving relationships with people, and enabling people to improve their thinking and decision-making
• and offers a glossary of Nudge theory and related terms