Can nudging only get you so far? Testing for nudge combination effects

Abstract

There is an emerging body of evidence to suggest that nudges can motivate behaviour change. The question as to whether using nudges in tandem ‘crowds out’ the marginal effectiveness of each one has attracted little attention. Using a randomised survey experiment consisting of 1,800 farmers, we tested the impact of two nudge interventions (injunctive norm and social signalling) when used individually in isolation and also when used in combination. Our findings are indicative of limited crowd out effects and more generally suggest that there may be scope for employing non-monetary interventions in combination when it comes to encouraging technology uptake.