MIP Perspectives
When a nudge becomes a shove
written by: Christian May
The Coalition Agreement stated that “Our Government will be a much smarter one, shunning the bureaucratic levers of the past and finding intelligent ways to encourage, support and enable people to make better choices for themselves.”
Sounds good. It suggests a smaller state and an emphasis on personal choice – backed up by subtle government policy that shuns the intrusion of Labour’s big-state mechanisms.
So where does the proposed plan to ban the display of cigarettes come into this “nudge” agenda? To a cynic, this could look more like a shove than a gentle prod in the right direction.
Original “nudge theory” advocates governments using subtle psychological techniques to encourage positive behaviour. However, the heavy-handed approach to the sale of cigarettes is about as far from subtle as one can get. It has been criticised by everyone from small shopkeepers to civil liberty campaigners. It has even been suggested that selling smokes from beneath the counter will make them more illicit, and thus attractive to younger people.
David Cameron spoke passionately in Opposition about personal responsibility and an end to the nanny state. Unfortunately, this latest idea would suggest that the government has been unable to resist the urge to tinker and to legislate.
Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School, said "If you are interested in changing people's behaviour for their own or the collective good, then regulation is often a blunt tool and it often doesn't harness goodwill.”
With that in mind, it would be nice to see the Coalition’s language focus a little more on personal choice and a little less on legislative shoves.
After health warnings were introduced on cigarette packages, moves were afoot to slap similar labels on beer, wine and spirits. You know what they say; first they came for the smokers, and I didn’t speak up, because I was not a smoker…
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