TO WHAT EXTENT IS THE USE OF CHOICE ARCHITECTURE AND NUDGE THEORY CONDUCIVE TOWARDS CREATING EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT POLICIES?

This article aims to evaluate the ways in which choices that are presented to consumers affect their decision-making, which in turn affects the ways in which governments intervene in the free market. Traditionally, governments assume the homo economicus when devising microeconomic intervention approaches. An alternate view on influencing consumer behaviour is explored through the lens of Nudge Theory. It is shown that nudging, as well as other ways of adapting one's decision environment, can be more effective in influencing behaviour than through traditional forms of intervention and coercion. However, the practice of nudging presents evident practical and ethical disadvantages.