GenderGuard

Our nudge is a "gender bias check" with supervisor notification. This means: An AI-based tool automatically checks every new job...

  1. Gender Bias

  2. Gender discrimination

  3. Job advertisement

  4. Managers

  5. occupational health safety

Together against hate

Part 1 – Pop-up in the comment section:
Notice above the comment section: “Help to stop hate! – 6...

  1. Digital platforms

  2. Hate comments

  3. Online hate

  4. Social media

Better Reviews. Better Science

Our nudge is a three-part system of incentives and reminders designed to subtly encourage peer reviewers to adopt more careful...

  1. Peer Review

  2. Research

  3. Science

No playing with time

Our hourglass nudge effectively highlights the relevance of time-wasting in football to support compliance with the new regulation coming into...

  1. doping

  2. Referee

  3. Soccer

  4. Sport

  5. Time game

The Laughing Gas Nudge

The Laughing Gas Nudge is designed to reduce society’s passive acceptance and toleration of launching gas use among adolescents and...

  1. Abuse

  2. Consumption

  3. Health

  4. Healthcare

  5. Intoxicant

  6. Laughing gas

  7. pharmaceutical industry

Break-Buddy

Our Nudge is an Outlook add-in that provides managers with an automatic feedback report on their team's break culture. The...

  1. Break culture

  2. Development

  3. occupational health and safety

  4. Recreation

  5. Work life

Comrade Code

Our nudge aims to raise awareness about the fine line between traditional camaraderie and borderline rituals (hazing) within the military....

  1. Bullying

  2. Comradeship

  3. Hazing

  4. Military

  5. safety forces

Integrity in Every Entry

Our nudge takes a stand against the silent tolerance of billing fraud in the healthcare sector. We rely on a...

  1. Billing fraud

  2. Healthcare

  3. Incorrect treatment

  4. pharmaceutical industry

TruePrice

Our data-based information nudge creates transparency in the ordering process with the help of an internal dashboard of a comparison...

  1. Offer

  2. Price decision

  3. Procurement

  4. White-collar crime

blue mirror

We are pleased to present our idea “blue mirror”, an interactive app that aims to encourage participants to regularly self-reflect...

  1. Group cohesion

  2. Military forces

  3. Police

  4. Racism

  5. Security forces

  6. Sexism

Fake or fact

Our nudge is a digital tool - embedded in social media platforms or browser extensions. It allows users to report...

  1. Digital platforms

  2. Fact check

  3. Fake News

  4. Media competence

  5. Politics

  6. Social media

Too much of a good thing

Our Nudge starts exactly where overtime has become the tacit normality. The aim is to critically question the widespread tolerance...

  1. Manager

  2. occupational health and saftey

  3. Overtime

  4. Work culture

CultureSTRONG

Our Nudge is an annual plaque awarded to cultural institutions for their active commitment to combating the abuse of power....

  1. Abuse of power

  2. badge

  3. Creative industry

  4. Cultural sector

  5. Digital platforms

  6. Social media

Burnout costs - nudging protects

Information nudge for burnout prevention in companies through regular calendar impulses for managers. A short, gentle reminder in Outlook is...

  1. Burnout

  2. Mental load

  3. occupational health and safety

  4. Work load

  5. Work place

Diligence Duty

Small decisions, big impact!
In finance, every click, every review, every checkbox matters. With Duty Diligence, we target precisely...

  1. banking

  2. finance

  3. Peer Review

  4. Research

  5. Review process

  6. Science

The Laughing Gas Nudge

The Laughing Gas Nudge

The Laughing Gas Nudge is designed to reduce society’s passive acceptance and toleration of launching gas use among adolescents and young adults. It consists of two complementary measures:

1. Poster campaign at laughing gas sales points

• Flyers at points of sale carry proactive slogans that challenge passive tolerance of laughing gas misuse and invite active questioning.
• They explain health risks and include a QR code linking to anonymous user reports expert assessments and support services.

2. Bracelet with slogans

• These let young people openly express their rejection of laughing gas use.
• By leveraging peer group influence they create positive group pressure to establish healthy norms and make risky use unattractive.

What does the topic mean?

The number of cases in which laughing gas is misused as an intoxicant has risen sharply in recent years. One of the main drivers is its legal availability in the form of cream chargers. Adolescents in particular increasingly turn to it because of its low price and easy access. Six out of ten users report obtaining their chargers through friends and acquaintances, while nearly half (around 50%) buy them in supermarkets. The central socio-economic factors driving this trend are the short-term positive effect (65%) and the influence of same-age peer groups (62%), both of which further encourage consumption. Despite acute risks such as fainting and serious falls and long-term dangers like nerve damage, public education remains inadequate. Awareness of the health consequences and of preventive measures is still incomplete.

Goal of the nudge

Our goal is to challenge the tolerance of laughing gas use and to send a clear message against its trivialization by raising public awareness of the associated health risks. With concise messages, emotional appeals and solid information we aim to sharpen awareness and spark a deep critical dialogue.

    Needs analysis

    • Increase in misuse
      More and more people are using laughing gas as a cost effective and easily accessible intoxicant.
    • Underestimated danger
      Many users consider laughing gas harmless since it is legal and produces a short-term euphoric effect.
    • Lack of education
      Few preventive measures and limited public information contribute to its normalization.

    Cause analysis

    • Optimism Bias

      Adolescents underestimate personal health risks and do not see themselves as vulnerable.

    • Present Bias

      Adolescents underestimate personal health risks and do not see themselves as vulnerable.

    • Attitude-Behaviour-Gap

      Even when risks are known there is often no impulse to actually give up.

    • Bandwagon Effect

      Peer pressure and imitation play a major role in consumption.

    • Social Norms / Pluralistic Ignorance

      Many believe laughing gas use is accepted in their peer group because no one speaks out publicly, even though many secretly oppose it. This inhibits any counterreaction.

    • Availability Heuristic

      Negative consequences are rarely visible on social media or in one’s immediate environment, so they seem unlikely and are ignored.

    • Normalization through Visibility

      Open availability and use within social groups create an impression of normality, reinforcing tolerance among peers.

Target Group

Adolescents and young adults who tolerate laughing gas use by turning a blind eye and doing nothing. Retailers who continue to make cream chargers freely available despite widespread misuse.

Added value of the nudge

  • Informative

    Easily accessible information reaches those affected directly at the point of sale.

  • Preventive

    The target audience is engaged emotionally and cognitively before their first or any repeat consumption.

  • Health promoting

    Reduction of potential long-term nerve damage and other consequences of laughing gas use.

  • Societal discourse

    The nudge fosters public awareness of an underestimated problem.

CONTACT US

Jonna Behncke

jonna.behncke@stud.hshl.de

Kim Schmitt

kim.schmitt@stud.hshl.de