When nudgees become nudgers: Exploring the use of self‐nudging to promote fruit intake

Abstract The current study explored (1) the immediate and prolonged effects of self‐nudges promoting fruit intake in the home environment, (2) whether the effect of self‐nudges on fruit intake persists after self‐nudges are no longer used (i.e. a temporal spillover effect) and (3) whether self‐nudges can install healthy eating habits that, in turn, explain the temporal spillover effect. Participants ( N = 331) were randomly assigned to either a control or self‐nudge condition in which they had to choose a self‐nudge promoting fruit consumption for 8 weeks. Thereafter, participants were asked to remove the self‐nudge for 1 week to assess a possible temporal spillover effect. Results showed a positive effect of the self‐nudges on fruit consumption right after implementation that continued during the 8 weeks in which the self‐nudge was implemented, which was accompanied by an increase in fruit intake habit strength. However, a mixed picture emerged regarding the temporal spillover effect and no support was found for a mediation effect of habit strength. Although this study is only a first exploration of self‐nudging to increase healthy food consumption, results indicate that self‐nudging may be a promising extension of traditional nudging that can influence behaviour beyond out‐of‐home settings.