Default Effect
Edited by Paweł Raja, PhD · Published · Updated
Definition
Default Effect is the tendency to stick with the pre-selected option because it requires the least amount of effort and is perceived as the recommended status quo.
Default Effect examples
Organ donation rates in countries with 'opt-out' default policies exceed 90%, compared to under 20% in countries with 'opt-in' policies.
- Retirement plans with automatic enrollment see far higher participation than opt-in plans with identical terms.
- Software that ships with privacy settings pre-selected shapes what most users end up sharing.
How to design for it (nudge strategy)
Make the socially optimal or personally beneficial choice the default option, while keeping the cost of opting out near zero.
Ethical use: design for choices people would endorse on reflection — a nudge, not sludge. Be transparent and keep opting out easy.
The evidence (4)
- Overcoming Saving Inertia with Future Commitments
Finance · Average Retirement Saving Rate: 3.5% → 13.6% (+10.1 pts) · n = 3 companies, 1,200 employees
- Organ Donation Registration Rates and Presumed Consent
Healthcare · Donor Consent Registration Rate: 18% → 99.1% (+81.1 pts) · n = Cross-national European Comparison
- Reducing Cart Abandonment by Mitigating Choice Overload
E-commerce · Completed Purchase Checkout Rate: 71.2% → 84.8% (+13.6 pts) · n = 45,000 sessions
- Mitigating Algorithm Aversion Through Output Control
Finance · Adoption Rate of the Algorithmic Forecast: 15% → 88% (+73.0 pts) · n = 3 experimental studies, 1,200 trials
Key research
- Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and HappinessRichard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein · Yale University Press (2008)
- Active vs. Passive Decisions and Crowd-Out in Retirement Savings AccountsRaj Chetty, John N. Friedman, Søren Leth-Petersen, Torben Heien Nielsen, Tore Olsen · The Quarterly Journal of Economics / NBER (2014)
- Applying Insights from Behavioral Economics to Policy DesignBrigitte C. Madrian · Annual Review of Economics / NBER (2014)
Related biases
Cite this page
Behavioral Economics Lab. "Default Effect – Definition, Examples & Evidence." Behavioral Economics Lab, https://www.behavioraleconomicslab.com/biases/default-effect.