Nudge Nudge

Posted by ESGmark on 17th July 2020 -

Arguably the key to implementing most successful changes in any group is consulting stakeholders around you to enact and embed permanent changes. In this blog we focus on the importance of behavioural transition and the role of “nudging” when seeking to reduce the environmental impact of your organisation.

Major companies are making important pledges to improving their carbon footprints - Nestlé for example is investing €1.68 billion in a three-tiered strategy to increase its use of recyclable and reusable plastics. However, the crucial component to success is by nudging mindsets to ensure these environmentally friendly products are disposed in the right way. Creating behavioural nudges within the workplace is a low-cost implementation to help aide energy conscious changes. Some examples include:

• Changing the default: Making a decision opt-out as opposed to opt-in or automatic enrolment schemes can be very effective, as often it’s people inability to make the physical change that is the barrier to the most effective option. A simple example is changing the default on devices to two-sided printing. Over three years after the implementation in 2008 at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA this amounted to a 44% paper reduction. Another example of changing the default maybe to switch to ‘low flow’ on multi-flow taps and showerheads in a business, which in turn saves water and the energy needed to heat it.

• Priming: This involves providing cues in the workspace environment which unconsciously drive decisions. Measures as simple as showing pictures or videos to employees can prime them to adapt their behaviour to be more energy conscious.

• Choice architecture: How you position or frame a decision made by employees is important to increase the likelihood of them choosing the best option. For example, this could be introduced through a simple traffic light system for any decision involving saving energy, such as level of light or heat in a room, highlighting green for the optimal level the firm would like to use. A further example would be tactically placing items in positions they will be used the most, such as different types of recycling bins. These ideas are widely used commercially, whether it be to structure a restaurant menu or for supermarket layouts.

• Evoking social norms: By creating literature or signage that highlights how ‘most people’ do something such as recycle or switching off lights, this acts as an effective pressure, as many respond to an obligation when there is direct language evoking what is expected in society, especially compared to peers. When trying to phase an energy saving or wasting scheme in or out, nudges can be useful to help adapt to change and deter an outright ban or rule (even if this is the end goal), which many employees may initially face with defiance psychologically.

Nudges are so effective as they often counter human nature’s inherent aversion to loss and an innate inertia that frequently makes change of any kind difficult to embed. However, it is important to acknowledge they won’t necessarily work in isolation - education and collaboration are still essential, but nudges can help enable a more energy efficient future.

So, whether it be promoting recycling, reduced water consumption or a paperless culture within a business there needs to be encouragement of the behavioural shifts needed, through providing nudges, easy access to education on the impact these changes will have and pushing discussion of further improvements that can be made. It is the behavioural barrier at all levels that perhaps poses the biggest threat to sustainable success.