Smartphone usage has evolved in people’s lives from necessity
to habit and in some cases leading to compulsive use and
addiction. However, only a little research has been performed
on the prevention of Problematic Smartphone Usage (PSU).
Behavioral economics has been applied to investigate how
smartphone users respond to nudges that try to lower their
smartphone usage. Findings revealed that the Total Screen On
Time (SOT) decreased when nudging smartphone users with
information on their usage behaviors. Intermittent glancing, as
well as the median session time increased, and the reduction in
SOT was no longer statistically significant in the observation
period after the nudges were no longer applied, suggesting
relapse in smartphone usage behavior.