iNudgeyou field experiment on smoking behaviour in Copenhagen airport

"As in many other countries around the world Denmark a few years ago (2007) banned indoor smoking from workplaces, restaurants and other contexts potentially exposing others to second hand smoking. While the law has been a huge success in changing smokers’ behavior, it has also created the well-known phenomenon of smokers piling up outside the doors of public buildings, pubs, and offices. Though more considerate than smoking indoor, this behavior pattern poses a pinheaded risk for those working next to door areas. Receptionists and office workers sit hours just inside open doors, next to windows or air-conditioning circulating air from these areas.

With more than 23.000.000 travellers a year and 25% of these being smokers, Copenhagen Airport has seen its fair share of the problem. To solve it the airport initially established strict no-smoking zones just outside the doors and other selected areas. Yet, to the despair of the airport officials smokers didn’t seem to care much about the proscription to light up their cigarettes in these zones. Not wanting to escalate into issuing fines to their visitors, they challenged our team to come up with a nudge that would change smokers’ behavior so as to reduce risk factors from second hand smoking."

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