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The use of nudges during the Covid-19 crisis

Read the studies


The effectiveness of using certain behavioural science “nudges” to change attitudes or behaviour in relation to Covid-19 has been called into question by two studies.

In a series of experiments, researchers from King’s College London tested nudges that have previously been shown to encourage people to think or act in desired ways.

They found that when used in the context of the coronavirus crisis, they did not have the expected effects. Read the two full studies below.

Sanders, M., Stockdale, E., Hume, S. and John, P. (2020) “Loss aversion fails to replicate in the coronavirus pandemic: Evidence from an online experiment”Economic Letters.

“Nudge in the Time of Coronavirus: the persistence of behavioural messages during crisis”.