Nudging and Social Marketing

Ideally, the goals a society pursues are predicated on a voluntary consensus of the citenzenry who through their actions in the private and public spheres develop an approximation of the good or just society. However, just like bad-tasting medicine which may have to be force fed in order to get the patient well, the achievement of some elements of the good society seem to involve a group of experts, often far removed from popular sentiment or opinion, who must go behind the backs of citizens in order to move them toward the better life. But instead of the ham-fisted interventions of a nanny state which often lead to overt resistance and public ridicule, governments can use social marketing and the more subtle principles of behavioral economics to nudge a wary and reluctant public toward valued ends. I argue that although such obfuscation and sugarcoating may work over the short term, in the long run nudging may do more harm than good.