Due to technological development, humanity’s convenience has increased. This led to an increase in sedentary behavior and consequently to health risks. Increasing daily activity by using the stairs can already improve health. To increase stair use, the nudges used in the quasi-experiment were; a pro-environmental poster focusing on energy consumption and a motivational health nudge focusing on burning calories. Motivations for physical activity can differ between gender, and thus the effect of both posters was also measured for men and women separately. The municipality building consisted of five floors, where data was gathered from both the basement level and the ground floor. A total of 1,109 observations were made during a three week observation period. Using chi-square analysis, the effect of the nudges on stair use was measured. Both the pro-environmental nudge (+7.8%) and motivational health nudge (11.1%) had a significant positive effect on general stair use. A more in-depth analysis of gender-specific stair use revealed that the nudges significantly increased female stair use, but not male stair use. The overall anecdotal comments and feedback by participants was negative, which emphasizes the importance of working together with participants to create the most effective stair use promotion program.

S.C. van der Zee
hdl.handle.net/2105/49485
Business Economics
Erasmus School of Economics

I. Bohm. (2019, November 8). The influence of a pro-environmental nudge versus a motivational health nudge in promoting stair use: A quasi-experiment.. Business Economics. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2105/49485