Nudging: An experiment on transparency, accounting for reactance and response time

Tobias Schütze, Carsten Spitzer and Philipp C. Wichardt

Journal of Economic Psychology, 2025, vol. 107, issue C

Abstract: Is being informed about a nudge detrimental to its effect? This paper reports results from an experimental online study testing the effects of transparency on the effectiveness of a default nudge while accounting for psychological reactance and response time. Overall and in line with earlier studies, we find no negative effect of transparency on average behaviour. Adding to the previous discussion, we find that effects of transparency differ depending on response time. In particular, decision makers with longer response time in fact react more positively (keeping the default) if nudging is made transparent. Moreover, the data show an interaction of reactance and response time in that more reactant subjects with longer response time leave the default more often. Thus, a positive effect of transparency as well as a negative impact of reactance can be established in the data if response time is accounted for.

Keywords: Nudging; Transparency; Reactance; Response time (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C90 D90 D91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167487025000091
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:107:y:2025:i:c:s0167487025000091

DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2025.102797

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Economic Psychology is currently edited by G. Antonides and D. Read

More articles in Journal of Economic Psychology from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().