This paper explores whether the perceptions of forest owners and professionals could be nudged towards more sustainable management practices by adjusting a policy text’s metaphorical content. Recent research has demonstrated a link between information interventions and preference change, but there is a need to further explore individuals’ reactions to information on forest-based ecosystem services and to link these to the design of policy instruments. We contribute to narrowing this gap by nudging the content of a policy text comparing rotation forest management (RFM) and continuous cover forestry (CCF), and exposing it to forest stakeholders. The research is carried out in Finland, the so-called ‘forest nation’ of Europe, whose economy and culture is closely tied to forests. The results highlight a deep-rooted opinion divide between Finnish forest owners and professionals: the professionals reacted significantly more negatively towards policy text emphasising continuous cover practice than forest owners. Our results support the use of linguistic nudging as a complement to other policy instruments, but they also highlight the challenges of using one-fits-all approaches to make policies more palatable. In our study, the stakeholders’ different reaction to nudge was also explained by their age, and type and degree of prior knowledge on forest management.

本文探讨了通过调整政策文本的隐喻内容，是否可以将森林所有者和专业人员的观念推向更可持续的管理实践。最近的研究表明，信息干预与偏好改变之间存在联系，但是有必要进一步探索个人对基于森林的生态系统服务信息的反应，并将其与政策工具的设计联系起来。我们通过缩小政策文本的内容，以比较轮伐森林管理（RFM）和连续性覆盖林业（CCF），并将其暴露给森林利益相关者，为缩小这一差距做出了贡献。该研究是在芬兰（所谓的欧洲“森林国家”）进行的，该国的经济和文化与森林紧密相关。结果突显了芬兰森林所有者与专业人士之间根深蒂固的意见分歧：与森林所有者相比，专业人士对强调持续覆盖实践的政策文本的反应明显更差。我们的研究结果支持使用语言推论作为其他政策工具的补充，但它们也凸显了使用“万能”方法使政策更加可口的挑战。在我们的研究中，利益相关者对微动的不同反应还通过他们的年龄，对森林管理的先验知识的类型和程度来解释。但它们也凸显了采用“万能”方法使政策更加可口的挑战。在我们的研究中，利益相关者对微动的不同反应还通过他们的年龄，对森林管理的先验知识的类型和程度来解释。但它们也凸显了采用“万能”方法使政策更加可口的挑战。在我们的研究中，利益相关者对微动的不同反应还通过他们的年龄，对森林管理的先验知识的类型和程度来解释。