Is NUDGE by Thaler/Sustein a Marketing Must-Read?

When co-author Richard Thaler was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2017 marketing outlets from MarketWatch to Marketing Science to the American Marketing Association published articles on nudge theory's relevance to marketing. It seemed that Nudge was a marketing-must-read. It may be... in part.

The book presents the power, and possible ethical responsibility, of Choice Architecture, an important concept for influencing people's behavior. Since marketing's mission is essentially getting people to do a certain thing, the idea that this is important for marketers makes sense. Yet, Choice Architecture is likely too macro for your marketing needs. Once the point is made that presenting options in a certain way will influence choice, the support cases that follow are likely too detailed to be relevant for your operations unless you're in Public Policy.

I recommend Marketers read Part I, then skip or flip through the rest of the book.

Part I is only 83 pages (in my paperback edition), and the content is easily absorbed. This can be read without much labor or time dedication. After that, a quick skim will let you know if there is anything else worth reading closely... and it will need to be read closely, as there is a significant amount of detail included in each case. Even as a career health care marketer, Nudge's health section was like mining for gold --it's there and retrievable, but there are easier and better ways to get the same value.

If nothing stands out to you as relevant in Part II through Part V, don't beat yourself up. You've read the important part.

However, if you are in government policy or public policy, I recommend reading this all the way through... maybe even twice.

All in all, I appreciate the marketing insight of Nudge theory, but I get a better-valued understanding of it from the Wikipedia definition than I do from the book that defined it.

#MarketingLitBit = Insight from Marketing Books in 60 Seconds or Less

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness was written by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sustein in 2008.