Nudge in perspective: A systematic literature review on the ethical issues with nudging

Abstract

In this article, we systematically review the literature on the ethics of nudging. Since the publication of the book Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein in 2008, a rich literature has been developed on the question whether it is ethical to nudge people. This is an important area for research as nudges are commonly used by governments and private corporations to alter the behaviour of citizens and consumers. In order to gain a complete overview of this literature, we conduct a systematic search of academic sources. We investigate which ethical issues with nudging are discussed. We find four major ethical issues, namely worries regarding 1) autonomy, 2) welfare, 3) long-term adverse effects, and 4) democracy and deliberation. We discuss each ethical issue by highlighting how it is defined, what the critique constitutes, what its sub-issues are, and which defences of nudging have been argued for. In this way, the systematic literature review provides a comprehensive overview of the literature on the ethics of nudging to date. The results of our systematic review contribute to a better understanding of the ethical issues with nudging, as well as of the current state of the literature on these topics.