Table 3.

Dimensions distinguishing nudges, boosts, and legal instruments

Dimension	Nudges	Boosts	Law
Usual form	Stimuli implemented in decision situation	Acquisition of competencies	Regulations or prescriptions
Intervention target audience	Populations or individuals	Populations or individuals	Populations and groups
Implementing entity	Private, governmental or non-governmental organizations	Private, governmental or non-governmental organizations	Legislature (authorized body)
Costs of implementation	Low	Moderate to high	High
Individual level costs to follow	Low	Moderate to high	Moderate to high
Implementation time	Short	Moderate	High
Duration of action	Effective during intervention	Resulting competences may exist long after the intervention ends	Effective during intervention
Autonomy	There is a choice not to comply	There is a choice not to comply	Compliance is compulsory
Consequences of behavior inconsistent with policy-driven change	Legally none, potentially social or economical	Legally none, potentially social or economical	Sanction or lack of permission to do something
Transparency	Not necessarily transparent	Necessarily transparent	Necessarily transparent and publicly available