Framework · Richard Thaler, Cass Sunstein and the Behavioural Insights Team

Choice architecture, nudges and EAST

How options are presented — defaults, placement, framing, timing — shapes decisions without removing choice.

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How options are presented — defaults, placement, framing, timing — shapes decisions without removing choice. EAST summarises: make it Easy, Attractive, Social and Timely.

How to use it with a real habit

• Set helpful defaults for yourself.
• Make the wanted option the easiest.
• Time prompts for the right moment.

What the evidence says

Evidence mixed: Some studies support it and others do not, or early findings shrank when researchers tried to repeat them. The lesson explains both sides.

Some nudges, like defaults, can have large effects; a meta-analysis found a small-to-medium average effect, while a re-analysis for publication bias found little average effect.

Limits

• Average effects are debated.
• Designed for policy; you’re your own choice architect here.

Sources

• Nudge — Richard H. Thaler & Cass R. Sunstein (2008)
• EAST — Easy, Attractive, Social, Timely
• The Behavioural Insights Team
• Mertens, Herberz, Hahnel & Brosch (2022). The effectiveness of nudging: A meta-analysis of choice architecture interventions across behavioral domains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi:10.1073/pnas.2107346118
• Maier, Bartoš, Stanley, Shanks, Harris & Wagenmakers (2022). No evidence for nudging after adjusting for publication bias. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi:10.1073/pnas.2200300119