Nudge vs. Shove: The Ethics of Influencing Nicotine Behavior
A 'nudge' makes the healthy choice easier without restricting options. A 'shove' eliminates options. Nicotine policy increasingly relies on shoves—flavor bans, product restrictions, prohibition. The ethics of the shove are contested.
Displaying NRT more prominently than cigarettes is a nudge. Banning flavored vaping products is a shove. **The nudge respects autonomy—the smoker can still choose cigarettes. The shove overrides it—the vaper cannot choose flavors. Nicotine policy has shifted from nudging toward shoving—flavor bans, product restrictions, prohibition proposals. The shift reflects a growing paternalism in public health: the belief that experts should decide what choices are available, because consumers cannot be trusted to make them.**
