Nudging - The art of giving the customer a push in the right direction

Let's start with an experiment…

Choose one of the options below, and we'll come back to this later in the article.

The concept of nudging originates from behavioral economics and is about giving customers a psychological nudge in the desired direction. It is therefore not a question of manipulating them into disadvantageous decisions, but of guiding them to make it easy to do the right thing.

– So it's not for nothing that nudging is also called choice architecture, says Pernille Bang, Content Manager and nudging-SME at Bombayworks.

During no less than 80% of our waking hours, our brain operates within the framework of system 1. So it's no wonder that the brain has developed strategies (biases or mental shortcuts) to navigate the world with the autopilot on. This means that the brain welcomes a little guidance in the majority of the decisions we make.

– Regardless of whether we are creating design for marketing or services, our work always starts from the user's needs and wishes - we gently nudge them in the right direction so that the experience becomes frictionless. And when a solution is ready, the real work begins with analyzing and following up user flows, says Fredrik Rydén, Design Lead at Bombayworks.

Mental shortcuts

There are a plethora of 'mental shortcuts'. You may recognize phrases like "few left" or "for a limited time". They are examples of scarcity biases that make us increase the perceived value of a product, while making us more likely to buy. Another similar mental shortcut is loss aversion, which is based on the fact that we are more motivated by not losing than we are by winning something - as the Swedish behavioral experts Niklas Laninge and Arvid Jansson write in their book, Beteendedesign, 2019: loss stings more than profit tastes. This type of driving force can be good to start from in order to limit friction online for the potential customer. Because even if there is a strong sense of purpose, we must not forget that we tend to choose the easiest way when we can - and sometimes the situation controls us more than our intention.

– Therefore, one tip is to divide the digital journey into stages and then map the actions that the customer is expected to perform, says Pernille Bang.

Nudging in practice

Back to our experiment. Remember what you chose?

You probably chose option B. Why? Well, option C makes B appear more attractive. If we remove C completely (which was only added as a decoy), the effect is lost and the probability that you would have chosen A increases. This is called the decoy effect and is about contextualizing the choice.

A process – not a quick fix

Nudging is about creating a better customer experience, greater engagement and an understanding of your business - something that will ultimately lead to more conversions.

– Nudging is a process and not a quick fix. You have to be willing to test continuously, but the positive thing is that simple adjustments can have a big effect, says Pernille Bang.

Make it concrete with EAST

The EAST method (Easy, Attractive, Social, Timely) is a great help when you want to encourage a certain behavior in digital channels. Different behavioral principles fit in different contexts.

Easy

Make the choice easy. Reduce the number of steps in the process, make the CTA button large and clear, use pre-filled fields as much as possible.

Attractive

Make the desired behavior particularly attractive to the user. Offer exclusive deals and/or personalize your customer communications.

Social

Use social proof to show the user that they are not alone in the decision by, for example, writing 'most popular' or highlighting an option.

Timely

Think about your timing. Adapt the message based on the most appropriate time, time or occasion for the customer.

Publication: Byråvärlden, February 2020