A nudge to reduce obesity

Ramarcha Kumar

Background and Nudge

• Location- New Delhi (India)

• Four College Cafeterias each having equal number of students

• Objective is to decrease the amount of junk food consumed by the students

• Proposed nudge – A new type of packaging material used which is difficult to open with the bare hands and less quantity in each packets

Experiment

• Two factors- types of packets and quantities available

• Type of packets- New vs Old

• Quantities- Low vs Standard

• 2X2 fully crossed model

• Outcome variable- Quantities of junk food sold in each cafeteria every month for six months

Expected Results

• Model- Two factor ANOVA

• Two main effects and one interaction effect

• The quantity of junk food sold in the cafeteria with New packet and Low quantity is likely to decrease significantly.

• The nudge is cost effective and it can easily extended to other market places also.