Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

PhD in Business

Department

Department of Information and Process Management

First Advisor

Jeff Livingston

Second Advisor

Jonathan Ericson

Third Advisor

Patrick McHugh

Abstract

This dissertation explores how knowledge of digital nudges impacts consumer decisions, and how consumer preferences based on that knowledge impacts design decisions. Paper 1 presents a systematic narrative literature review on the evolution of digital nudge literature. This investigation uncovers several themes and provides a basis for a revised definition of digital nudges and a taxonomy wheel of digital nudges. Paper 2 (co-authored with Jeffrey Livingston, Jonathan Ericson, and Patrick McHugh) investigates how knowledge about digital nudges impacts consumer preferences to have them within the digital experiences they use. This paper highlights how knowledge of digital nudges impact consumer online shopping preferences. Consumers (N = 331) were given two options for a homepage, product page, and checkout page within an e-commerce experience. Using an experiment with consumers as subjects, we discover that consumers consider themselves more knowledgeable about digital nudges after the experiment rather than before. Additionally, findings indicate that consumers are more inclined to avoid web pages incorporating dark patterns into their design. Paper 3 (co-authored with Jeffrey Livingston, Jonathan Ericson, and Patrick McHugh) complements the consumer paper. It investigates how much designers know about digital nudges and whether designers would be less apt to use digital nudges and dark patterns in their designs if they knew more about those digital nudges and if they knew which ones consumers would prefer to avoid. In this study, we examine whether and how designers might be influenced to avoid using digital nudges that might be considered manipulative or that consumers find objectionable. Designers (N = 353) were given two options for a homepage, product page, and checkout page within an e-commerce experience. We found that designers originally considered themselves to be more knowledgeable about digital nudges before the study than after it. Additionally, our findings indicate that designers are more inclined to avoid using digital nudges if they know that the consumer does not prefer them within a page experience.

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