Large Language Models Enable Design of Personalized Nudges across Cultures

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Maksimenko, Vladimir, Xin, Qingyao, Gupta, Prateek, Zhang, Bin, Bansal, Prateek
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Maksimenko, Vladimir
Xin, Qingyao
Gupta, Prateek
Zhang, Bin
Bansal, Prateek
author_facet Maksimenko, Vladimir
Xin, Qingyao
Gupta, Prateek
Zhang, Bin
Bansal, Prateek
contents Nudge strategies are effective tools for influencing behaviour, but their impact depends on individual preferences. Strategies that work for some individuals may be counterproductive for others. We hypothesize that large language models (LLMs) can facilitate the design of individual-specific nudges without the need for costly and time-intensive behavioural data collection and modelling. To test this, we use LLMs to design personalized decoy-based nudges tailored to individual profiles and cultural contexts, aimed at encouraging air travellers to voluntarily offset CO$_2$ emissions from flights. We evaluate their effectiveness through a large-scale survey experiment ($n=3495$) conducted across five countries. Results show that LLM-informed personalized nudges are more effective than uniform settings, raising offsetting rates by 3-7$\%$ in Germany, Singapore, and the US, though not in China or India. Our study highlights the potential of LLM as a low-cost testbed for piloting nudge strategies. At the same time, cultural heterogeneity constrains their generalizability underscoring the need for combining LLM-based simulations with targeted empirical validation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_12045
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Large Language Models Enable Design of Personalized Nudges across Cultures
Maksimenko, Vladimir
Xin, Qingyao
Gupta, Prateek
Zhang, Bin
Bansal, Prateek
Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
Nudge strategies are effective tools for influencing behaviour, but their impact depends on individual preferences. Strategies that work for some individuals may be counterproductive for others. We hypothesize that large language models (LLMs) can facilitate the design of individual-specific nudges without the need for costly and time-intensive behavioural data collection and modelling. To test this, we use LLMs to design personalized decoy-based nudges tailored to individual profiles and cultural contexts, aimed at encouraging air travellers to voluntarily offset CO$_2$ emissions from flights. We evaluate their effectiveness through a large-scale survey experiment ($n=3495$) conducted across five countries. Results show that LLM-informed personalized nudges are more effective than uniform settings, raising offsetting rates by 3-7$\%$ in Germany, Singapore, and the US, though not in China or India. Our study highlights the potential of LLM as a low-cost testbed for piloting nudge strategies. At the same time, cultural heterogeneity constrains their generalizability underscoring the need for combining LLM-based simulations with targeted empirical validation.
title Large Language Models Enable Design of Personalized Nudges across Cultures
topic Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.12045