Prosocial nudges and visual indicators increase social distancing, but authoritative nudges do not

Mohin Banker, Moses Miller, Guy Voichek, Dafna Goor and Tamar Makov
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Mohin Banker: a Yale School of Management, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511;
Moses Miller: b Arison School of Business, Reichman University, Herzliya, 4610101, Israel;
Guy Voichek: c Department of Analytics, Marketing & Operations, Imperial College Business School, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom;
Dafna Goor: d Marketing Department, London Business School, London, NW1 4SA, United Kingdom;
Tamar Makov: e Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Be'er Sheva, 8410501, Israel

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022, vol. 119, issue 33, e2116156119

Abstract: Social distancing reduces the transmission of COVID-19 and other airborne diseases. To test different ways to increase social distancing, we conducted a field experiment at a major US airport using a system that presented color-coded visual indicators on crowdedness. We complemented those visual indicators with nudges commonly used to increase COVID-19–preventive behaviors. Analyzing data from 57,146 travelers, we find that visual indicators and nudges significantly affected social distancing. Introducing visual indicators increased the share of travelers practicing social distancing, and this positive effect was enhanced by introducing nudges focused on personal benefits (“protect yourself”) and public benefits (“protect others”). Conversely, an authoritative nudge referencing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“don’t break CDC COVID-19 guidelines”) did not change social distancing behavior. Our results demonstrate that visual indicators and informed nudges can boost social distancing and potentially curb the spread of contagious diseases.

Keywords: COVID-19; public health messaging; nudge; reactance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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