Nudging is a controversial technique for changing people’s behaviours. It burst into public consciousness in the early 2000s with the launch of “nudge units” and departments in government. Its use as a policy tool is particularly polarizing as it raises moral and constitutional issues about freedom of choice and coercion.

Mark Whitehead and Rhys Jones consider how the nudge as a mechanism for policy implementation came about and why it gives rise to such strong feelings. They explain what a nudge is, how it differs from other behavioural prompts, and consider whether we should use them and, if so, when and where they are best deployed. In particular, they explore how the proliferation of digital media throughout our lives has given nudging a new impetus and sphere of operation, which can be both harder for consumers and citizens to detect and more contentious.

A brilliant and thoughtful review of nudge. A highly useful introduction and critique of this important new policy approach.

An essential book that offers an eminently clear and cogent account of the rise of nudge as a novel science of social influence. It considers how digitization is rapidly transforming the nature and potential of the nudge, such that surveillant capitalist technologies gain deeper and more pervasive access to our less-than-conscious preferences, responsivities, and habits for commercial gain. How can we speculate on the future of nudging, while also, perhaps, intervening imaginatively, critically and pragmatically in its course?

Rhys Jones is a Professor of Human Geography at Aberystwyth University. His research interests are in the broad area of political geography, focusing on themes such as the state, nationalism, behaviour change. He has published 12 books.

Mark Whitehead is a Professor of Human Geography at Aberystwyth University. His research interests span urban studies, sustainability, the impacts of the psychological sciences on public policy, and the social implications of smart technology. He has authored and edited 11 books.