10/12/2019 Louvain4Nutrition Interdisciplinary Seminar

Nudging refers to interventions that organize the choice architecture in order to alter people’s behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives. An example of a nudge is placing healthy rather than unhealthy foods at the cash register, to make it easier for customers to make a healthy food choice. Nudging is a popular behaviour change technique in many domains but the conditions for its effectiveness have not been researched extensively. As part of the Food4Gut project, several nudging interventions were implemented in the university restaurants in Louvain-la-Neuve and Woluwe with the aim of increasing prebiotic vegetable choice. Prebiotic vegetables are vegetables such as salsify and Jerusalem artichoke with a high amount of Inulin-type fructans, which are known for their prebiotic capacities. Although proximity and combined (proximity + cue-to-action) nudging interventions were not effective, tasting and default-name nudging interventions were very effective in increasing prebiotic vegetable choice.