Exploring Behavioural Economics:
Using ‘Nudge Theory’ to improve the
effectiveness of SafePORK
interventions in Vietnam
Mathew Hennessey, Sunghwan Kim, Fred Unger, Hung Nguyen, Sinh
Dang, Thinh Nguyen, Barbara Häsler
Regional symposium on research into smallholder pig production,
health, and pork safety
Hanoi, Vietnam
27-29 March 2019

Background
• Pork eaten in Vietnam is commonly contaminated with Salmonella
• Relatively high incidence rate (17%) of Salmonella related food
borne disease
• Considerable cost to the economy
• The SafePORK project, a market based approach to improve food
safety, has designed a set of interventions for the pork value chain to
improve food safety
• Interventions require changes in actor’s behaviour
• Can these behavioural changes be supported by behavioural
economics/nudge theory?

Nudge background
Nuffield ladder (Nuffield council of bioethics)

Nudge background
EAST Framework (Behavioural insight team)

Nudge background
MINDSPACE Framework (Behavioural insight team)

Nudge background
Example 1
Singapore – printing bills on pink paper
Pink normally used for debt collection
- People have been primed to the colour pink
Improvement in prompt payment rates

Nudge background
Example 2
Kenya – Providing chlorine dispensers at water outlets
• Visual reminder of the need to chlorinate water
(providing information and environmental
restructuring)
• Easy to use at point of water collection (easy and
timely- from EAST framework)
• See other people doing the same (modelling, priming,
and social from EAST)
• Led to a 53% increase in uptake in India (Kremer et al.
2010)

Project aims and objectives
Aim: To understand whether behavioural economics/nudge theory can
be used to improve the effectiveness of food safety interventions in the
pork value chain in Vietnam
Objectives:
• Investigate how nudges are already being used in the pork value
chain in Vietnam
• Understand which behavioural elements of pork value chain actors
may be amenable to nudging
• Investigate the feasibility of using nudges within the pork value
chain

Methods
Phase 1 – summer 2018 (Hanoi and Hung Yen)
Key informant interviews (n=12)
- to gain information about existing
food safety interventions
Questionnaires (n=132)
- To determine behaviours
amenable to nudging
Nuffield ladder EAST MINDSPACE
Examine ‘nudge’ frameworks

Methods
Phase 2 – November 2018 (Hanoi)
Stakeholder workshop with value
chain actors (n=30)
Group discussions Practical exercises
Discuss the feasibility of using the
proposed nudges

Results
Phase 1 – Key informant interviews (n=12)
• Hanoi and Hung Yen province
• Relevant authorities (6), influencing institutions (3), research
institutions (3)
Nuffield ladder:
21/35 interventions
classified as nudges
- Provision of
information (14)
- Enabled choice (6)
- Guide through
default (1)
EAST:
85.7% attractive
47.6% easy/social
28.6% timely
MINDSPACE:
47.6% messenger
57.1% incentives
38.1% norms
19% defaults
61.9% salient
23.8% priming
14.3% affect
4.8% commitment
23.8% ego

Results
Phase 1 – Questionnaire based survey (n=132)
• Producers (17), slaughter house workers (9), retailers (71), food
vendors (35)
• When regarding food safety – respondents ranked veterinarians as
the most trustworthy group, local authorities lowest
• Respondents said they were most likely to imitate the behaviour of
their colleagues over other groups
• Reputation was considered the most effective incentive for
behavioural change

Results
Phase 2 – Stakeholder workshop with value chain actors (n=30)
• Producer (1), slaughter houses workers (4), retailers (6), government
officials (8), and researchers (11)
Group discussions:
Actors were generally aware of the slaughter house and retail
processes which could lead to microbial contamination of pork
Wiping of carcass due to fear that wet meat would spoil and
consumer preference for ‘dry’ looking meat
Lack of access to improved infrastructure cited as reason for inability
to change behaviours

Results
Phase 2 – Stakeholder workshop with value chain actors (n=30)
• Framing of language, images, colours
Practical exercises

Results
Phase 2 – Stakeholder workshop with value chain actors (n=30)
Discussing the feasibility of using the proposed nudges:
- Access to improve infrastructure needed
- Changes would need to be supported by authorities
(veterinarians and animal health inspectors)

Conclusions
Nudges are already a common part of food safety interventions in
Vietnam (60% of those identified)
- lack of formal evaluation makes it challenging to assess their
effectiveness
Value chain actors highly regard veterinarians, their peers, and their
reputation
- these factors should be considered when designing and delivering
food safety interventions.
Nudges should be created which use images of local situations and
people, and language which is specific to a target audience

Next steps
Nudges to support food safety interventions will be created using the
findings from this study
These nudges will be tested in the field to allow assessment of their
effectiveness
If nudges are found to be effective then they will be used to support
the SafePORK food safety intervention trial