Public perceptions of infrastructural digital nudging: an experience-based study in a quasi-public setting

Digital nudging increasingly shapes behavior, impressions, and decision-making in public spaces. However, existing empirical research has largely focused on nudging in relation to individualized decision-making, offering limited insight into how diverse publics interpret such technologies when embedded in public infrastructures—what we refer to here as infrastructural digital nudging. In such settings, the influence of digital nudging may become less visible and less easily avoidable, while asymmetries between those who design the technology and those who encounter it may become more consequential. These conditions, together with the possibility that public expectations and social implications extend beyond expert-defined frameworks, highlight the need for early engagement. In this study, we investigate public perceptions of infrastructural digital nudging based on multi-display signage through a demonstration conducted at a national science museum in Japan. We used a convergent mixed-methods design that combined quantitative analyses of structured questionnaire responses with qualitative analyses of open-ended questionnaire responses and sticky notes. This research design enabled both statistical analysis and fine-grained interpretation of participants’ concerns, interests, and imagined uses. Our results show that, at an aggregate level, participants prioritized understanding the technology’s mechanisms, purposes, and social impacts over canonical ethical categories such as autonomy and transparency. However, qualitative analyses revealed considerable heterogeneity: some participants expressed strong concerns about unconscious influence, manipulation, and misuse. Co-occurrence analyses further indicated that participants’ evaluations were structured around different perspectives, including science-focused assessment and social concerns. These findings suggest that public perceptions of infrastructural digital nudging are heterogeneous and organized around multiple perspectives, not reducible to expert-defined categories. This underscores the importance of empirically examining how such technologies are interpreted when encountered in environments approximating real-world situations.