The psychological impacts of nudge-based evacuation advisories

Abstract

This study examined the psychological effects of disaster prevention nudges. The participants (total N=1,330) read a scenario describing approaching danger with either a loss-framed evacuation advisory or a non-framed control one and reported their intentions to evacuate, feelings of guilt, and perceived external pressure (Study 1) and rated extrinsic motivational regulation (Study 2). Moreover, in Study 3 the participants were presented with the same scenario and one of three evacuation advisories (loss-framed, gain-framed, and control advisories) and indicated their behavioral intentions, feeling of guilt, perceived external pressure, and extrinsic motivation as in Studies 1 and 2. Both frames increased the participants’ intentions to evacuate, feelings of guilt, and perceived external pressure. However, their effects on extrinsic motivation differed: the loss-framed advisory enhanced all three types of extrinsic motivation, whereas the gain-frame advisory increased only identified regulation. The implications for future work on nudges are discussed.