Volume 54, Issue 1 p. 81-98
Original Article

Why a nudge is not enough: A social identity critique of governance by stealth

Frank Mols

Corresponding Author

Frank Mols

University of Queensland, Australia

Address for correspondence: Frank Mols, School of Political Science and International Studies/School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author
S. Alexander Haslam

S. Alexander Haslam

University of Queensland, Australia

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Jolanda Jetten

Jolanda Jetten

University of Queensland, Australia

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Niklas K. Steffens

Niklas K. Steffens

University of Queensland, Australia

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First published: 21 November 2014
Citations: 169

Abstract

Policy makers can use four different modes of governance: ‘hierarchy’, ‘markets’, ‘networks’ and ‘persuasion’. In this article, it is argued that ‘nudging’ represents a distinct (fifth) mode of governance. The effectiveness of nudging as a means of bringing about lasting behaviour change is questioned and it is argued that evidence for its success ignores the facts that many successful nudges are not in fact nudges; that there are instances when nudges backfire; and that there may be ethical concerns associated with nudges. Instead, and in contrast to nudging, behaviour change is more likely to be enduring where it involves social identity change and norm internalisation. The article concludes by urging public policy scholars to engage with the social identity literature on ‘social influence’, and the idea that those promoting lasting behaviour change need to engage with people not as individual cognitive misers, but as members of groups whose norms they internalise and enact.