Different Shades of Nudges: Moderating Effects of Individual Characteristics and States on the Effectiveness of Nudges during a Fast-Food Order

Nudges, or subtle changes to a choice environment, are increasingly used in online food ordering platforms to improve dietary choices and reduce calorie intake. We report the results of an experiment aimed at nudging young adults to reduce calories in a fast-food order (N = 994). The nudging interventions used were: an order assistant, a color-coded system, and a combination of the order assistant and color-coded system. We hypothesized that participants’ characteristics (sex, BMI, education) and states (positive affect, negative affect, hunger) moderate the effectiveness of nudges. Our analysis shows that the effect of nudges is slightly increasing at higher BMI levels. In the combined treatment, hunger and negative affect significantly moderate the effect of nudges. We do not observe the moderating effects of participants’ sex, educational level, and positive affect in any of the treatments.