Nudge-based coaching: Building a constructivist grounded theory of behavioral change

Abstract

This study aims to conceptualize nudge-focused coaching, articulate its foundational principles, and clarify how it differs from dominant coaching approaches, while also specifying the defining features of coaching nudges and the distinctive competencies of nudge-oriented coaches. The need for this model arises from a persistent gap in organizational coaching: although conventional coaching builds awareness and insight, it often struggles to translate these into sustained behavioral change in real work contexts. Adopting a constructivist grounded theory approach (Charmaz), this qualitative study draws on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 22 professional coaches, executive coaches, managers, and behavioral experts. Data were analyzed through iterative cycles of initial, focused, and theoretical coding, supported by constant comparison, memo writing, and theoretical sampling to develop an emergent explanatory framework. The findings conceptualize nudge-focused coaching as a behavior-oriented coaching approach that facilitates change by designing the decision environment through subtle, non-coercive, and evidence-based nudges rather than relying solely on dialogic techniques. The model is grounded in three core principles—autonomy preservation, contextual alignment, and transparent intent—and is further operationalized through five ethical design logics governing how coaching based nudges should be crafted and enacted. The study also identifies a multi-dimensional competence framework for nudge-oriented coaches, encompassing behavioral insight intelligence, ethical integrity, contextual timing agility, choice-architecture craft, and trusted facilitation presence. Together, these contributions position coaching as an ethically grounded form of behavioral design for organizational change.