Nudging down theft from insecure vehicles. A pilot study
| Author | Karen Gaskell,Kevin Weir,Paul Phillips,Jason Roach,Miles Walton |
| DOI | 10.1177/1461355716677876 |
| Date | 01 March 2017 |
| Published date | 01 March 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Nudging down theft from insecure vehicles.
A pilot study
Jason Roach
School of Human and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield, UK
Kevin Weir
Durham Constabulary, UK
Paul Phillips
Durham Constabulary, UK
Karen Gaskell
Durham Constabulary, UK
Miles Walton
Durham Constabulary, UK
Abstract
This report presents the preliminary findings of a pilot study to reduce thefts from cars committed against insecure
vehicles, using the behavioural insights or ‘nudge approach’. The recipients of the ‘nudges’ were potential victims of theft
from insecure vehicles living in high rate areas for this crime, where a bespoke leaflet campaign was developed to nudge
vehicle owners into thinking m ore carefully when leaving thei r vehicles unattended, part icularly when left on their
driveways overnight. Although somewhat tentative at this stage, the preliminary findings indicate that the percentage
of thefts committed against insecure vehicles in the two treatment areas was reduced significantly when compared with
the two control group areas where no nudge interventions were introduced. This demonstrates that if appropriate
nudges (grounded in psychological theory) are coupled with and delivered by appropriate messengers, the prosocial
behavioural change can be encouraged which can lead to a reduction in criminal behaviour and opportunities for crime.
Keywords
Nudge psychology, theft from motor vehicles, crime reduction, behavioural change, police
Submitted 30 Jun 2016, Revise received 02 Sep 2016, accepted 25 Sep 2016
Introduction
The malleability of human behaviour by subtle tweaks
burst into public consciousness by its repacking as the
‘nudging’ of behaviour (Thaler and Sunstein, 2008). The
originality of the approach lay not in its content, but its
representation as a way of shaping behaviour to be more
prosocial. The argument was that people should retain the
freedom to behave as they wished, but nudged to be more
prosocial. In the first example given in the Thaler and
Sunstein’s book, it was shown how schoolchildren could
be nudged into choosing healthier food. It would be good if
more people were organ donors, made adequate pension
Corresponding author:
Jason Roach, University of Hudd ersfield School of Human and Health
Sciences, HHS Research Building, Queensgate, Huddersfield HD1
3DH, UK.
Email: j.roach@hud.ac.uk
International Journalof
Police Science & Management
2017, Vol. 19(1) 31–38
ªThe Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/1461355716677876
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