The Choice Architect Doth Protest Too Much: Ironic Effects of Nudging on Perceptions of Descriptive Social Norms

Solutions can imply antecedent problems (e.g., glasses imply poor eyesight). Similarly, in five studies we show (a) that awareness of behavioral interventions (i.e., “nudges”) can leak negative information about prevailing descriptive norms (i.e., “negative social proof”), and (b) this inference diminishes the efficacy of the intervention.