부산대학교 도서관

Currently, policy makers are interested in nudging to stimulate physical exercise. In the Amsterdam Zuidoost district, an experiment was conducted to investigate whether placing footsteps leading to the stairs in apartment buildings would promote stair use. The setup consisted of two parts. Firstly, movement sensor measurement before and after placing the footsteps in an intervention and control setting. Secondly, seventeen semistructured interviews with residents in both settings. Quantitative data collection yielded no useable data due to disappearance or damage of sensors, as well as battery problems.Qualitative data showed that respondents did not perceive or expect effect of the nudge for themselves or others. Reasons included fixed behavioural patterns and circumstances in the buildings like number of floors and the state of staircases. However, respondents expressed positive attitudes towards physical exercise and sports and were interested in nudging: they proposed possible alternative nudges.The study shows how important knowledge about the local setting is for effective nudging, but also for effective measurement of the effects. Possible, a citizen science approach could lead to better experiments as well as to positive impacts on health literacy and social cohesion.