Although nudges have been shown to influence many choices, it is possible that nudging may also result in undesirable consequences compared to other choice architectures (e.g., educational boosts). Here, we present evidence of one such case involving recycled water acceptance. In two experiments, we compared the effects of a popular nudge (i.e., defaults designed to increase acceptance) with an educational boost (e.g., a brief video designed to support informed decision making). Results revealed that both defaults and educational boosts substantially increased choices related to recycled water acceptance (e.g., >60% increase in enrollment in a hypothetical recycled water program across experiments). However, the educational boost also promoted choice-consistent effects on attitudes, intentions, and knowledge, while default nudges resulted in attitude inconsistency (e.g., expressing worry about recycled water; intending to protest and avoid water recycling). Results add to research on practical and ethical risks of nudging and the potential benefits of comparing the costs of nudges with other options.

Criticisms of nudging suggest that nudges infringe on decision makers’ autonomy. Yet, little empirical research has explored whether people who are subjected to nudges agree. In three between-group experiments (N = 2083), we subject participants to contrasting choice architectures and measure experiences of autonomy, choice-satisfaction, perceived threat to freedom of choice, and objection to the choice architecture. Participants who received a prosocial opt-out default nudge made more prosocial choices but did not report lower autonomy or choice satisfaction than participants in opt-in default or active-choice conditions. This was the case even when the presence of the nudge was disclosed, and when monetary choice stakes were introduced. With monetary choice stakes, participants perceived the threat to freedom of choice as slightly higher in the nudge condition than in the other conditions, but objection to the choice architecture did not differ between the conditions. Taken together, our results suggest that default nudges are less manipulative and autonomy-infringing than sometimes feared. We recommend that policymakers include measures of choice experiences when testing out new interventions.