The current study investigates the efficiency of nudging people to purchase more eco-friendly electronic devices in an emulated online milieu. To this end, participants were presented with three different products (smart phones, monitors and portable speakers) with two different nudges (attraction and default) and a control condition. Results from two experiments show that, while there was already a strong preference to make eco-friendly choices in control conditions, when eco-friendly choices were costlier, there was a clear positive effect of an attraction nudge on participants’ eco-friendly preferences. In other words, when product prices were generally high, or when there are large price differences between options, the attraction nudge resulted in a higher probability of eco-friendly choices compared to when no attraction effect is used. The default nudge was less efficient, sometimes producing a negative effect, while its effect was mediated by whether participants endorsed a strong bio-centric worldview, in which case the default nudge promoted more eco-friendly choices. The results are discussed in relation to potential challenges pertaining to deceit and perceived paternalistic intentions with use of nudges.

目前的研究调查了在模拟的在线环境中推动人们购买更环保的电子设备的效率。为此，向参与者展示了三种不同的产品（智能手机、显示器和便携式扬声器），具有两种不同的推动（吸引力和默认）和控制条件。两项实验的结果表明，虽然在控制条件下已经强烈倾向于做出环保选择，但当环保选择成本更高时，吸引力轻推对参与者的环保偏好有明显的积极影响。换句话说，当产品价格通常很高，或者当期权之间存在较大的价格差异时，与未使用吸引力效果相比，吸引力推动会导致更高的环保选择概率。默认微调效率较低，有时会产生负面影响，而其影响是由参与者是否认可强烈的以生物为中心的世界观来调节的，在这种情况下，默认微调促进了更环保的选择。讨论了与欺骗相关的潜在挑战和使用轻推的家长式意图的潜在挑战。