Harnessing people's inertia and nudging your way to tame outdoor smoking

If we hate passive smoking, we probably will prefer an outright ban to simple moralization, forgetting that something in the middle may well work wonders in certain contexts.

Since mid-March, Shanghai has proceeded to curb outdoor second-hand smoke in eight popular destinations, including the Bund, the Wukang Road area and the suburban Panlong Tiandi, with a policy mix of persuasion and publicity that amounts to a proper nudge.

A nudge is neither a total ban nor a mere theoretical teaching. It's sort of a middle way – active persuasion without pushing too hard, a strategy that requires both the property management of a certain place to create a relatively smoke-free atmosphere and its security guards or volunteers to respectfully dissuade outdoor smokers rather than simply slapping them with fines.

While many netizens applaud Shanghai's latest action as timely and necessary, quite a few also wonder whether a nudge will be enough to deter those who habitually smoke while walking. After all, Shanghai has already banned smoking in all indoor spaces and certain outdoor places like those in kindergartens, primary and middle schools, children's hospitals and the auditoriums and competition areas of stadiums.

"Why not ban all outdoor smoking?" one netizen commented in a recent post. "If you don't fine them hard, outdoor smokers won't budge."

At first I sort of shared this view, believing that nothing short of an outright ban would have teeth in our collective efforts to tame outdoor smoking, but onsite interviews I conducted at Panlong Tiandi, in Qingpu District, on Tuesday have changed my mind.

Diligent guards

Long accustomed to running into people smoking on sidewalks or in parks, I was surprised to find Panlong Tiandi, a 50-hectare watertown, which comprises commercial outlets, residential complexes and green spaces, to be particularly quiet and clean.

During my half-day interviews and observation, I simply saw no cigarette butt on the ground.

Certainly what I saw could not be the whole picture, so I interviewed a number of on-duty security guards, who were patrolling the inner circle of the watertown, where a large number of visitors were relaxing at riverside cafes, bakeries, restaurants, or pavilions.

I also saw many elderly people playing with their grandchildren or chatting over coffee, and a number of young people reading or rambling – all enjoying their quiet moments at riverfront spaces without being exposed to second-hand smoke from other visitors.

This was in sharp contrast to what I experienced in a pocket park near my suburban home in the past couple of years, where even some security guards often smoked wantonly in disregard of singular posters pointing to a designated outdoor smoking area.

On closer observation, I found many shops had placed a card on each outdoor dining table, carrying four Chinese characters – qing wu xi yan (請勿吸煙) – which means "Please do not smoke."

"You don't see many 'no smoking' signs on the streets, but many commercial outlets, especially those in the inner circle of the watertown, have joined our efforts to nudge tourists toward cultivating a habit of not smoking in crowded outdoor spaces," a middle-aged security guard, who stood by a public ashtray placed away from crowds, told me.

"And if we find someone smoking while walking through a crowd, we confront him or her politely," he added. "In most cases smokers cooperate by leaving the crowd and coming over to the ashtray area to smoke."

"If you can fine them, do you think a fine works better than polite persuasion plus a proper arrangement of ashtrays across the town?" I asked, still unsure whether a nudge "had teeth."

"Well, a fine certainly works in a given context, but it could also stir up an unwanted quarrel, especially if some smokers don't realize that puffing in outdoor public spaces can cause severe harm to others' health. Education matters, and most smokers heed our advice."

"If my experience is anything to go by, then at least 88 out of 100 smokers will accept my persuasion and quit smoking in crowded outdoor spaces," another security guard told me. "Most visitors here don't smoke, and among a few who do, most are willing to stop smoking while walking in a crowd, or smoke only in a less crowded corner where there's an ashtray."

This young security guard was on duty near an ancient stone bridge surrounded by a plethora of shops and pavilions, where many people came and went.

"There is a security guard near every bridge, seeing to it that no one smokes wantonly," he informed. "In case someone turns a deaf ear to our persuasion, we notify nearby janitors to clean each cigarette butt possibly scattered along the way."

He also told me that there are a couple of outdoor smoking areas in the outer circle of the watertown. For example, the open area outside a Starbucks shop near a major motorway, which is far from crowds of tourists in the inner circle of the town.

During my half-day interviews and observation at Panlong Tiandi, I saw only five smokers – two in designated outdoor smoking areas, one outside his own shop at the outer circle of the town, and two in less-crowded corners.

When an old man lit a cigarette by a riverside cafe, he turned around to see if anyone had noticed him, only to meet my questioning gaze. He quickly left the crowd and darted toward a half-empty street across the river.

"Whenever and wherever there's a complaint about second-hand smoke, we will go and try our best to settle any dispute," noted a third security guard, who patrolled between the inner and outer circles of the town.

A fourth security guard, on duty at the very center of the watertown, said that smokers tend to gather at noon and in the evening, the two peak periods when most visitors relax at riverfront spaces, either dining or watching shows.

"Sometimes we do encounter headstrong smokers, but things are changing for the better on the whole," he noted. "Good news is that we may post more conspicuous signs in the future to remind visitors that outdoor smoking is discouraged here."

A choice architect

Based on my interviews, as well as relevant news reports, I venture to summarize Panlong Tiandi's unique way of persuasion as follows: First, security guards are well trained to serve as diligent "watchdogs" and well positioned to deal with any case of second-hand smoke; second, the town adopts stricter rules against passive smoking in the inner circle, while allowing the outer circle, which is far away from tourist crowds, to set up a few designated outdoor smoking areas; and third, many commercial outlets readily help dissuade outdoor smoking by placing conspicuous cards on their outdoor tables reminding customers to refrain from smoking even in open-air spaces.

This reminds me of what two renowned American scholars call a "choice architect" – someone who has the responsibility for organizing the context in which people make decisions.

Richard H. Thaler, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, and Cass R. Sunstein, an expert of law and behavioral economics, wrote in their New York Times bestseller book "Nudge" that "small and apparently insignificant details may have major impacts on people's behavior."

"Small and apparently insignificant" indeed are those table cards reminding customers not to smoke even in outdoor spaces, and the daily efforts by security guards – sometimes aided by volunteers – to dissuade smokers from harming the health of passers-by. But these seemingly trivial details, if earnestly implemented, can gradually change people's mind and behavior with regard to smoking ethics and etiquette.

The Shanghai Observer, a leading news portal, reported earlier this year that volunteers at the Wukang Road area even disseminate health-themed creative cultural products as well as cigarette extinguishing bags (cigarette snuffers) to residents and tourists alike in an effort to raise public awareness of the need to curb passive smoking in the city's outdoor spaces.

As the two American scholars noted, "everything matters." Don't underestimate the power of small daily efforts in harnessing people's inertia – for instance an inclination to smoking while walking.

Thanks to Shanghai's relentless tobacco control efforts, the rate of smoking among the city's adults has dropped below 20 percent, but close to 50 percent of urban crowds are still exposed to second-hand smoke, especially that produced by those who smoke while walking in outdoor spaces.

Given the large number of wandering smokers and different natures of outdoor spaces, Shanghai has adopted a multilayered method to curb outdoor passive smoking, including a ban on certain locations and a nudge for eight popular destinations. This way the city has tried to give full play both to law and to public participation.

As the World Health Organization noted in its landmark Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), "Every person should be informed of the health consequences, addictive nature and mortal threat posed by tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke ..."

A nudge strategy adopted by Panlong Tiandi and certain other popular destinations amounts to nothing less than informing every person of second-hand smoke's health consequences. In no small measure, the nudge strategy also echoes the WHO's emphasis that the participation of civil society is "essential" to achieving tobacco control goals in due time and manner.