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

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 ca...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Security journal 2022-06, Vol.35 (2), p.463-485
Main Authors: Sas, Marlies, Ponnet, Koen, Reniers, Genserik, Hardyns, Wim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bicycles
Crime
Crime and Society
Crime prevention
Criminology
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Locking
Original
Original Article
Social Sciences
Theft prevention
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0955-1662
1743-4645
DOI:10.1057/s41284-021-00285-3