In my blog post on Nudges , I talked about why grocery stores sell higher-profit items at eye level (because people are more likely to buy those). That's an example of "design architecture," defined as environmental structures that encourage or discourage particular forms of behavior. NPR's Planet Money podcast highlighted another form of design architecture in a recent episode : package size. After many years of offering only a few standardized sizes for their products, manufacturers have begun selling the same products in a much wider range of packages. Coca-Cola was a pioneer in this area of marketing, launching tiny cans for health-conscious consumers and also giant bottles for families and parties. The price of the actual soda can vary along with its package size: People are actually willing to pay a higher price per ounce when the can or bottle is smaller, because of the perception of convenience or health benefits. But size can also have an effect on how m
America is experiencing a mental health crisis , with the most recent data (2022) showing a record high number of people who took their own lives. Drug overdose deaths also continue to rise, and are consistently related to problems with anxiety and depression. Worldwide, people report more "bad mental health" days and lower overall levels of happiness than they did 20 years ago, and the problem is particularly acute among young people . More people than ever are accessing psychotherapy , yet that hasn't fixed the problem. Standard approaches like cognitive-behavioral therapy, which encourage us to think our way out of our troubles, have not been successful against this challenge. Sources of Strength began as a statewide suicide-prevention program for teens in North Dakota, which in 1998 was seeing many young people die from suicide, along with overdoses and car crashes (two types of death that are also potentially related to suicidal feelings). In pooled results from