Nudging the Shoplifters!

Using behavioral techniques to deter shoplifting!

19th March 2013

DHRUVSharma !

Crime!
Blackburn denes crimes as acts attracting legal punishment offences against the community. ! Legally (in UK): Not just violation of law but!
actus reus (guilty act), an act voluntarily carried out,! mens rea (guilty mind), an intention to commit the act. !

Blackburn, Ronald. The psychology of criminal conduct: Theory, research and prac7ce. John Wiley & Sons, 1993. Putwain, David, and Aidan Sammons. Psychology and crime. Routledge, 2002.

Why?!
Durkheims Anomie!
The breakdown of social bonds between an individual and their community.!

Mertons Strain Theory.!

Conformists! Ritualists! Innovators! Retreatists! Rebels!

Durkheim, Emile, John A. Spaulding, and George Simpson. Suicide. Free Press, 1997. Merton, Robert King. Social theory and social structure. Simon and Schuster, 1968.

Crime is complex!!
Cantor says there is then no criminal type but different types of criminals.! Incarceration is not the solution.! Shoplifting is an ordinary crime (Arboleda-Florez, Durie, & Costello).!

Gonnerman, Jennifer. "Million-Dollar Blocks: The neighborhood costs of Americas prison boom." The Village Voice (2004). Cantor, Nathaniel F. "Crime and society." An Introduc7on to Criminology 939 (1939). Arboleda-Florez, Julio, Helen Durie, and John Costello. "ShopliOing: An ordinary crime?." Interna7onal Journal of Oender Therapy and Compara7ve Criminology (1977).

Shoplifting!
Francis denes it as "theft from the selling oor while a store is open for business. ! Why?!
Economic! Psychosocial!

Walsh says humans can do things for countless different reasons.!

Francis, Dorothy Brenner. ShopliOing: The crime everybody pays for. Elsevier/Nelson Books, 1980. Levinson, David, ed. Encyclopedia of crime and punishment. Vol. 1. Sage Publica7ons, Incorporated, 2002. Walsh, Denis Patrick. ShopliOing: Controlling a major crime. London: Macmillan, 1978.

History of Shoplifting!
Retail loss is as old as retail.!
Medieval fairs.! First recorded in 1597.! Death penalty | Deportation!

Woolworths innovation propelled shoplifting.! Estimated Christmas losses cost (2012) - 999.7 million.!
38.09 per household (6 weeks) !

Hayes, Read. "Retail security and loss prevenZon." No.: ISBN 0-7506-9038-0 (1991): 267. Walsh, Denis Patrick. ShopliXing: Controlling a major crime. London: Macmillan, 1978. Usherwood, Barbara. "``Mrs Housewife and her grocer': the advent of self-service food shopping in Britain''." All the World and Her Husband Eds M Andrews, M Talbot (Cassell, London) pp (2000): 113-130. Bameld, J A N, ShopliXing for Christmas 2012: How Criminals Prot From the Fes7ve Season, (No`ngham: Centre for Retail Research) 2012

Design Against Crime!

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).! Situated Crime Prevention (SCP).!
Increase risk and difculties.! Reduce rewards.! Rational choice perspectives.!

Gill et al re-enactment and walkthrough.!

Gamman, Lorraine, et al. "Hey Babe Take a Walk on the Wild Side!: Why Role-playing and VisualizaZon of User and Abuser Scripts Oer Useful Tools to EecZvely Think Thief and Build Empathy to Design Against Crime." Design and Culture 4.2 (2012): 171-193. Clarke, Ronald V. "SituaZonal crime prevenZon." Crime & Just. 19 (1995): 91. Jeery, C. Ray, and Diane L. Zahm. "Crime prevenZon through environmental design, opportunity theory, and raZonal choice models." Rou7ne ac7vity and ra7onal choice 5 (1993): 323-350.

Criminology!
Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). !!
Predicts behavioral intentions.!

Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)!

Perceived behavioral control.!

Marco Yzer: dual aspect of perceived behavior.!

Ajzen, Icek. "The theory of planned behavior." Organiza7onal behavior and human decision processes 50.2 (1991): 179-211. Yzer, Marco. "Perceived Behavioral Control in Reasoned AcZon Theory A Dual-Aspect InterpretaZon." The ANNALS of the American Academy of Poli7cal and Social Science 640.1 (2012): 101-117.

The Moment!!
Durkheims Anomie!

Mertons Strain Theory!

Ra#onality

CPTED & SCP ! TRA & TPB!

Behavioral Methods!
Glassock et al mention 2 types:!
Shoplifter as client! Retailer as client!

Measuring and evaluating change in behavior is challenging.! Direct observation + Quantitative impact.!

Glasscock, Stephen G., Michael A. Rapo, and Edward R. Christophersen. "Behavioral methods to reduce shopliOing." Journal of Business and psychology 2.3 (1988): 272-278.

Manipulating Behavior!
Markin et al The retail store is a bundle of cues, messages and suggestions it does create mood, activate intentions and generally affect customer reactions.! Antithesis to rational responses.! Nudge Theory?!
Non-rational / unconscious decision making.! Manipulation possible.!
Markin, Rom J., Charles M. Lillis, and Chem L. Narayana. "Social psychological signicance of store space." Journal of Retailing 52.1 (1976): 43-54. Bonell, Chris, et al. "Nudge smudge: UK Government misrepresents nudge." The Lancet 377.9784 (2011): 2158-2159. Thaler, Richard H., and Cass R. Sunstein. Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. Yale University Press, 2008. Walker, Stuart. The spirit of design: objects, environment and meaning. No. 1st. Earthscan publica7ons, 2011.

Further Research!
How do shoplifters make their decisions to steal?! Rationally?! Emotionally?! Can Nudge Theory be used to reduce shoplifting by manipulating their behavior?! o introducing a victim in a victimless crime?! How do shoplifters react to information cues?! How can we increase the rigor in such behavioral studies?!

Thank You!!
DHRUVSharma
t:
dhruvsharma101