Choice Architecture

Before heading to the grocery store, you make a list of the items you need. Eggs, milk, and bread. “I won’t buy anything other than these,” you tell yourself. As you wander down the store's aisles, a large sale sign catches your eye: there’s a shelf of all your favorite snacks, labeled 2 for $8. “What a steal!” you think to yourself, grabbing four packages without realizing that the original price was $3.99 per item. Once you get home, you realize you spent more than you intended and wonder how this happened yet again. Would you have bought the items if you realized you saved a mere $0.02?

This is an example of choice architecture, which means that our decisions are influenced by how choices are presented.¹ To this end, a choice architect is someone who creates the environment that influences decision-making. In the situation above, consumer decisions are influenced by directing their attention to a specific sale item and making it look like a good deal. 

Choice architecture is related to libertarian paternalism and nudge theory, which proposes that positive reinforcement and implicit suggestions can subtly influence behavior.² However, choice architecture is not always used to benefit those making decisions.¹ While it’s often leveraged to promote desirable behaviors, like choosing healthier food choices or improving public health outcomes, the effects of choice architecture can also make people do things that are not in their best interest, like buying things they don’t need. Understanding the impacts and issues with choice architecture is key to applying this behavioral science principle both effectively and ethically.