Nudge

In 1963, the Milgram experiments revealed something unsettling.  Most people kept administering what they believed were painful electric shocks, not because they wanted to, but because they couldn’t bring themselves to say no.  In this episode, my guest shares why we agree to extra projects, unpaid favours and unreasonable requests even when we know we shouldn’t.  I’m joined by behavioural scientist and physician Dr Sunita Sah of Cornell University. She studies how social pressure and conflict-of-interest disclosures can quietly steer us toward yes. --- Read Sunita’s book Defy: https://amzn.to/48LsreG  Unlock the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults Join 10,428 readers of my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list  Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/  --- Today’s sources:  Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(4), 371–378. Sah, S. (2025). Defy: The power of no in a world that demands yes. One World. Sah, S., Loewenstein, G. F., & Cain, D. M. (2013). The burden of disclosure: Increased compliance with distrusted advice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104(2), 289–304. Sah, S., Loewenstein, G. F., & Cain, D. M. (2019). Insinuation anxiety: Concern that advice rejection will signal distrust after conflict of interest disclosures. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(7), 1099–1112. Woodzicka, J. A., & LaFrance, M. (2001). Real versus imagined gender harassment. Journal of Social Issues, 57(1), 15–30.

In today’s special end-of-year episode, you’ll hear the best insights from Nudge in 2025. Hear from Prof. Gerd Gigerenzer, Richard Shotton, Bas Wouters, Philip Graves, Prof. Matt Johnson and a Behavioural Insights Team director.  ---- Subscribe to the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/  Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/  ---- Today’s Sources:  Beilock, S. L., Bertenthal, B. I., McCoy, A. M., & Carr, T. H. (2004). Haste does not always make waste: Expertise, direction of attention, and speed versus accuracy in performing sensorimotor skills. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 11(2), 373–379. Bellaiche, L., Shahi, R., Turpin, M. H., Ragnhildstveit, A., Sprockett, S., Barr, N., & Seli, P. (2023). Humans versus AI: Whether and why we prefer human-created compared to AI-created artwork. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 8(1), 42. Groen, J., & Wouters, B. (2020). Online Influence: Boost your results with proven behavioral science. Amazon Digital Services LLC. Milkman, K. L., Patel, M. S., Gandhi, L., Graci, H. N., Gromet, D. M., Ho, H., Kay, J. S., Lee, T. W., Akinola, M., Beshears, J., Bogard, J. E., Buttenheim, A. M., Chabris, C. F., Chapman, G. B., Duckworth, A. L., Goldstein, N. J., Goren, A., Halpern, S. D., John, L. K., ... & Van den Bulte, C. (2021). A megastudy of text-based nudges encouraging patients to get vaccinated at an upcoming doctor’s appointment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(20), e2101165118. Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977). Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes. Psychological Review, 84(3), 231–259. van den Broek, E., & den Heijer, T. (2024). The Housefly Effect. Bedford Square Publishers. Vennard, D., Park, T., & Attwood, S. (2019). Encouraging Sustainable Food Consumption By Using More-Appetizing Language.

How would you encourage Australians to drive slower? That’s what today’s guest on Nudge, Adam Ferrier, had to do.  Being an applied behavioural scientist, he tackled this challenge in a novel way.  Listen to hear about his interesting campaign, how Jaws killed surfing and the secret behind Derren Brown’s “hypnosis” trick.  --- Watch the bonus episode: https://nudge.kit.com/66dcb18641 Adam’s agency: https://thinkerbell.com/ Adam’s books: https://amzn.to/431eYfD Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/ Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/ --- Today’s sources: Cialdini, R. B. (1984). Influence: The psychology of persuasion. William Morrow. Shotton, R. (2023). The illusion of choice: 16½ psychological biases that influence what we buy. Harriman House. Sutherland, S. (1992). Irrationality: The enemy within. Constable.

Seriously.  Don’t listen to this episode.  Whatever you do.  Don’t. Press.  Play. (Warning: this episode contains explicit language.) --- Adam’s agency: https://thinkerbell.com/ Adam’s books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B07K5R1MTX Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/ Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/ --- Today’s sources Driscoll, R., Davis, K. E., & Lipetz, M. E. (1972). Parental interference and romantic love: The Romeo and Juliet effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 24(1), 1–10. Heath, R. (2006). Brand relationships: strengthened by emotion, weakened by attention. Journal of Advertising Research, 46(4), 410–419. Maimaran, M., & Fishbach, A. (2014). If it’s useful and you know it, do you eat? Preschoolers refrain from instrumental food. Journal of Consumer Research, 41(3), 642–655. Mazar, N., & Soman, D. (Eds.). (2022). Behavioral science in the wild: Behaviorally informed organizations. University of Toronto Press. Ryan, R. M. (1982). Control and information in the intrapersonal sphere: An extension of cognitive evaluation theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43(3), 450–461.

2 out of 3 internet users in the USA pay for Prime.  Yet, most of them are irrationally loyal.  They feel like the subscription provides more cost savings than reality.  Today, on Nudge, Richard Shotton and I explore the behavioural science behind Amazon Prime.  We look at the sunk-cost fallacy and pennies-a-day effect to explain why so many are irrationally loyal to Amazon Prime.  ---  Subscribe to the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults Read Richard’s book: https://a.co/d/fEW7amQ Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/ Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/  --- Today’s sources: Arkes, H. R., & Blumer, C. (1985). The psychology of sunk cost. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 35(1), 124–140. Gourville, J. T. (1998). Pennies-a-day: The effect of temporal reframing on transaction evaluation. Journal of Consumer Research, 24(4), 395–403. Gourville, J. T., & Soman, D. (1998). Payment depreciation: The behavioral effects of temporally separating payments from consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 25(2), 160–174. Roth, S., Robbert, T., & Straus, L. (2015). On the sunk-cost effect in economic decision-making: A meta-analytic review. Business Research, 8(1), 99–138.