**4. How individuals make decisions**

According to standard economic theory, individuals are fully rational when making decisions, they try to maximize utility and when given information, they are able to make optimal decisions. But behavioral economics (BE) suggests otherwise: consumer behavior is complex, people sometimes make irrational choices, and their behavior does not follow the predictions of economic models. Most people are risk averse and prefer to make decisions based on heuristics or mental shortcuts to reduce efforts and avoid hassles [22]. They also are motivated by rewards and respond easily to incentives and nudges. A nudge is any factor that significantly alters people's behavior in a predictable way. The nudge can be designed by a choice architect, who has the responsibility for organizing the context in which people makes decisions. The nudge can be as simple as the use of specific colors. Most drivers know that they have to stop when they see a red light, and keep driving their cars if the light turns to green. This common knowledge —and way of nudging—has then moved to another areas of people's life, for example, with the use of traffic lights, food labels, and graphics to indicate the energy consumption in the household, social marketers attempt to design and use easy to understand tools to educate and orientate consumers and help them in making wise choices [2].

Besides the nudges, a good way to help individuals to improve their performance is to provide them with prompt and specific feedback, that will help them learn when they are doing well and when they are making mistakes or moving away from their goals. Feedback can assist individuals in monitoring their health-related goals and help them form new habits and internalize specific behaviors. Feedback that includes action steps to achieve a goal or provide comparative information is considered more useful for people. At the same time, a good choice architect needs to provide the right incentives or rewards in order to motivate individuals to maintain the desired behavior. Finally, people also tend to measure their performance and wellbeing in relative terms, by comparing with others in similar situations and trying to comply with social norms that reflect the behaviors and attitudes commonly accepted by a social group [2, 23].
