One Nudge Can Be Enough:Reducing Cigarette ButtLittering in Public Areas
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how public administration can reduce cigarette butt littering in public areas. Cigarette butt littering is a problem for every local government unit; however, policy solutions are either very difficult to implement or expensive. This paper demonstrates th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Central European Public Administration Review |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.uni-lj.si/CEPAR/article/view/21285 |
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| author | Artsiom Klunin Matúš Sloboda Emília Sičáková-Beblavá Patrik Pavlovský |
| author_facet | Artsiom Klunin Matúš Sloboda Emília Sičáková-Beblavá Patrik Pavlovský |
| author_sort | Artsiom Klunin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how public administration can reduce cigarette butt littering in public areas. Cigarette butt littering is a problem for every local government unit; however, policy solutions are either very difficult to implement or expensive. This paper demonstrates the potential of behavioural science, namely nudges employing gamification, salience, and priming.
Design/Methodology/Approach: In collaboration with local public administration, two field quasi-experiments were conducted to explore the effectiveness of low-complexity behavioural measures to tackle cigarette butt littering in heterogeneous public spaces. The study tested both the effectiveness of a single behavioural measure and the follow-up effect of a combination of low-complexity measures. In the first quasi-experiment, a standalone intervention (priming stickers) and the follow-up combination of measures (priming stickers with gamified ballot bins) were tested. In the second quasi-experiment, a standalone salience nudge (crime scene) was first implemented, followed by a combination of the initial (crime scene) and follow-up salience (toxicity) nudges to nudge smokers from cigarette butt littering in public space. Both quasi-experiments used a before-and-after design.
Findings: The results suggest that a single behavioural intervention may be sufficient to achieve the desired behavioural change, and reinforcing its effects within a relatively short time period with a follow-up intervention may not deliver any additional statistically significant effects.
Originality/Value: This research contributes to public administration research, specifically by applying behavioural insights and experimental approaches to studying public policies. Although this approach is gaining popularity, there remains a lack of evidence from field (quasi-)experimental studies on the effects of behavioural interventions in reducing pollution in public spaces.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8584436173b84624803281b42a48e3f2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2591-2240 2591-2259 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Central European Public Administration Review |
| spelling | doaj-art-8584436173b84624803281b42a48e3f22025-01-22T10:50:17ZengUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Central European Public Administration Review2591-22402591-22592024-11-0122210.17573/cepar.2024.2.01One Nudge Can Be Enough:Reducing Cigarette ButtLittering in Public AreasArtsiom Klunin0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3155-5311Matúš Sloboda1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3760-2385Emília Sičáková-Beblavá2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8159-8080Patrik Pavlovský3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2058-503XComenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, SlovakiaComenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, SlovakiaComenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, SlovakiaComenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Slovakia The purpose of this paper is to investigate how public administration can reduce cigarette butt littering in public areas. Cigarette butt littering is a problem for every local government unit; however, policy solutions are either very difficult to implement or expensive. This paper demonstrates the potential of behavioural science, namely nudges employing gamification, salience, and priming. Design/Methodology/Approach: In collaboration with local public administration, two field quasi-experiments were conducted to explore the effectiveness of low-complexity behavioural measures to tackle cigarette butt littering in heterogeneous public spaces. The study tested both the effectiveness of a single behavioural measure and the follow-up effect of a combination of low-complexity measures. In the first quasi-experiment, a standalone intervention (priming stickers) and the follow-up combination of measures (priming stickers with gamified ballot bins) were tested. In the second quasi-experiment, a standalone salience nudge (crime scene) was first implemented, followed by a combination of the initial (crime scene) and follow-up salience (toxicity) nudges to nudge smokers from cigarette butt littering in public space. Both quasi-experiments used a before-and-after design. Findings: The results suggest that a single behavioural intervention may be sufficient to achieve the desired behavioural change, and reinforcing its effects within a relatively short time period with a follow-up intervention may not deliver any additional statistically significant effects. Originality/Value: This research contributes to public administration research, specifically by applying behavioural insights and experimental approaches to studying public policies. Although this approach is gaining popularity, there remains a lack of evidence from field (quasi-)experimental studies on the effects of behavioural interventions in reducing pollution in public spaces. https://journals.uni-lj.si/CEPAR/article/view/21285littering, cigarette butts, nudge, gamification, priming, salience |
| spellingShingle | Artsiom Klunin Matúš Sloboda Emília Sičáková-Beblavá Patrik Pavlovský One Nudge Can Be Enough:Reducing Cigarette ButtLittering in Public Areas Central European Public Administration Review littering, cigarette butts, nudge, gamification, priming, salience |
| title | One Nudge Can Be Enough:Reducing Cigarette ButtLittering in Public Areas |
| title_full | One Nudge Can Be Enough:Reducing Cigarette ButtLittering in Public Areas |
| title_fullStr | One Nudge Can Be Enough:Reducing Cigarette ButtLittering in Public Areas |
| title_full_unstemmed | One Nudge Can Be Enough:Reducing Cigarette ButtLittering in Public Areas |
| title_short | One Nudge Can Be Enough:Reducing Cigarette ButtLittering in Public Areas |
| title_sort | one nudge can be enough reducing cigarette buttlittering in public areas |
| topic | littering, cigarette butts, nudge, gamification, priming, salience |
| url | https://journals.uni-lj.si/CEPAR/article/view/21285 |
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