Spillover effects of reminder nudges in complex environments

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Economics
• Cognitive Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Complex environments demand significant attention and multiple actions within short timeframes.
• Understanding the impact of interventions like reminder nudges is crucial for optimizing performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the immediate and lasting effects of reminder nudges on user actions in a complex computer game setting.
• To analyze spillover effects of reminders on both reminded and non-reminded actions.
• To examine the scalability of reminder nudges and their intertemporal effects after withdrawal.

Main Methods:

• An experiment involving 1,542 subjects performing multiple actions in a computer game.
• Systematic manipulation of reminder nudges to assess direct and spillover effects.
• Analysis of action performance during and after the reminder intervention period.

Main Results:

• Reminders positively impact the total number of actions performed, primarily due to direct effects on reminded actions outweighing negative spillovers.
• Reminder nudges are scalable, increasing overall actions with diminishing returns and more pronounced negative spillovers as more actions are reminded.
• Post-reminder withdrawal, positive effects on reminded actions decrease, while negative spillovers on non-reminded actions persist, negating overall action increases.

Conclusions:

• Reminder nudges can enhance performance in complex tasks, but their effectiveness is moderated by spillover effects.
• Scalability of nudges needs careful consideration due to potential diminishing returns and negative externalities.
• The long-term impact of reminders is limited, with persistent negative effects on non-targeted actions after intervention withdrawal.