nep-nud New Economics Papers
on Nudge and Boosting
Issue of 2026–01–05
two papers chosen by
Marco Novarese, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale


  1. Long-run effects of behavioral interventions: Experimental evidence on meat consumption By Eßer, Jana; Flörchinger, Daniela; Frondel, Manuel; Sommer, Stephan
  2. ManipulationDetect: An AI Auditing Tool for Online Choice Architecture By Richard Mills; Stuart Mills; Cass R. Sunstein

  1. By: Eßer, Jana; Flörchinger, Daniela; Frondel, Manuel; Sommer, Stephan
    Abstract: Habits pose a potentially strong barrier to reducing meat consumption. Drawing on data from a framed field experiment over 14 months, we address the challenge of changing meat consumption habits and examine whether repeated informational and supportive newsletter interventions reduce self-reported meat consumption. While on average we find no evidence for a reduction in meat intake in response to the interventions, individuals with favorable pre-conditions, such as those with a low baseline consumption, moderately decrease their meat consumption. In addition, the interventions were effective in changing meat consumption among female but not male respondents. A back-of-the-envelope calculation indicates that the scope for reducing nutrition-related carbon emissions through newsletters is small.
    Abstract: Gewohnheiten stellen ein potenziell großes Hindernis für die Reduzierung des Fleischkonsums dar. Anhand von Daten aus einem über 14 Monate durchgeführten Feldversuch befassen wir uns mit der Herausforderung, Fleischkonsumgewohnheiten zu ändern, und untersuchen, ob wiederholte informative und unterstützende Newsletter-Interventionen den selbst angegebenen Fleischkonsum reduzieren. Während wir im Durchschnitt keine Hinweise auf eine Verringerung des Fleischkonsums als Reaktion auf die Interventionen finden, reduzieren Personen mit günstigen Voraussetzungen, wie z. B. diejenigen mit einem geringen Ausgangskonsum, ihren Fleischkonsum moderat. Darüber hinaus waren die Maßnahmen bei der Änderung des Fleischkonsums bei weiblichen, jedoch nicht bei männlichen Befragten wirksam. Eine überschlägige Berechnung zeigt, dass der Spielraum für die Reduzierung ernährungsbedingter CO2-Emissionen durch Newsletter gering ist.
    Keywords: Framed field experiment, meat consumption, climate change mitigation
    JEL: D12 D91 Q18
    Date: 2025
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:333894
  2. By: Richard Mills (University of Nottingham); Stuart Mills (University of Leeds); Cass R. Sunstein (Harvard University)
    Abstract: Policymakers and regulators are increasingly interested in behavioural auditing tools to counteract manipulative designs in Online Choice Architecture (OCA). To date, auditing tools have been largely manual, creating a trade-off between time, cost, and scale. This article presents a tool called ‘ManipulationDetect’, an internet browser plug-in that uses AI to detect, highlight, and record potentially manipulative OCA techniques in real-time. We offer a technical overview of how ManipulationDetect works, present an example audit which demonstrates the tool’s advantages, and highlight important practical next steps for further development.
    Keywords: AI; tool; manipulation;OCA; policymakers; regulations
    Date: 2025–12
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:not:notcdx:2025-04

This nep-nud issue is ©2026 by Marco Novarese. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.
General information on the NEP project can be found at https://nep.repec.org. For comments please write to the director of NEP, Marco Novarese at <director@nep.repec.org>. Put “NEP” in the subject, otherwise your mail may be rejected.
NEP’s infrastructure is sponsored by the School of Economics and Finance of Massey University in New Zealand.