Does personality matter: examining the value of personality insights for personalized nudges that encourage the selection of learning resources

Abstract

Nudging is a mechanism aimed at influencing people's behavior while maintaining the individual's freedom of choice. Nudges have been adopted in learning contexts where individuals are responsible for shaping their learning and, at the same time, receive guidance from the system. Not everyone responds to nudges in the same way. While social science research indicates that individual differences play a crucial role in peoples' nudgeability, there has been little research examining computational approaches that explore how individual differences affect user responses to nudges (especially in a learning context). Two studies were conducted to explore how individual differences, specifically focusing on personality, can affect nudge response in the context of healthcare education, where individuals use resources as a part of their informal learning and professional development. Different nudges, designed based on personality characteristics, were provided to draw individual users' attention to educational resources to encourage user engagement. The findings indicate that personality insights can be a predictor for nudge selection, suggesting that different nudges may be more effective when recommending learning resources to people with different personality characteristics.