Nudging as a crime prevention strategy

Nudging as a crime prevention strategy: the use of nudges to improve cyclists’ locking behavior and reduce the opportunities for bicycle theft

Sas, Marlies (Universiteit Antwerpen)
Ponnet, Koen (Universiteit Gent)
Reniers, G.L.L.M.E. (TU Delft Safety and Security Science)
Hardyns, Wim (Universiteit Antwerpen; Universiteit Gent)

2021

As policy makers are developing new alternative strategies to prevent bicycle theft, a nudging approach could provide useful insights in this field. In the current study, two different nudges were implemented at a selection of bicycle parking facilities in the neighborhood of a Belgian university campus. To measure the effectiveness of the nudges, a multi-method approach was used with a combination of observations (n = 3963) and questionnaires (n = 197). The results showed that both nudges had a positive impact on cyclists’ locking behavior. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that nudging can be a rather cheap and easy way to improve secure behavior. However, concerns such as the limitations of increased awareness on behavior and the excessive focus on the victim need to be taken into account when implementing nudges in the field of security.

Bicycle theft
Crime prevention
Nudging
Security
University campus

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4668d3db-544b-49bc-b840-06398be2ba93

https://doi.org/10.1057/s41284-021-00285-3

0955-1662

Security Journal, 35 (2), 463-485

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2021 Marlies Sas, Koen Ponnet, G.L.L.M.E. Reniers, Wim Hardyns