Do Extrinsic Incentives Undermine Social Norms? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Energy Conservation

Pellerano, José A.; Price, Michael K.; Puller, Steven L.; Sánchez, Gonzalo E.

doi:10.1007/s10640-016-0094-3

Cited by 89 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…3 However, until very recently (McRae, 2015;Pellerano et al 2015), there have been no field experiments in developing countries that focus on information strategies for energy conservation behavior. Indeed, a recent meta-analysis based on 156 field trials published in peerreviewed journals from 1975 to 2012 found that 100% of the studies were conducted in developed countries, mostly Europe and the United States (Delmas et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information strategies for energy conservation: A field experiment in India

Chen¹,

Delmas²,

Locke³

et al. 2017

Energy Economics

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Little is known about the effectiveness of information strategies on energy conservation in developing countries. In this study, we conduct a field experiment in an apartment complex in India to test how information about electricity usage impacts the electricity consumption of urban middle class households. Our results, based on fifteen-minute electricity readings over an academic year, show that nonmonetary messages that framed electricity consumption in terms of environmental and health impacts were more effective than messages emphasizing the monetary savings of reducing electricity consumption. Households in the environmental/health group accessed the online energy-monitoring dashboard more frequently and reduced their electricity usage by 18.4% relative to the control group. Households in the monetary group did not significantly alter their usage. These results about revealed preferences are contrasted with stated preferences disclosed in a survey of urban Indians who describe money, not health, as the main motivation for energy conservation. Our findings have important implications for the development non-monetary strategies for energy conservation in developing countries.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information strategies for energy conservation: A field experiment in India

Chen¹,

Delmas²,

Locke³

et al. 2017

Energy Economics

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“…However, Navigant (2013) finds that over half of households read and respond to OPOWER Home Energy Reports; Seattle City Light (2014) finds similar figures for reading newsletters. Moreover, both repeated interventions (Allcott and Rogers 2014) and onetime information interventions (Pellerano et al 2017) have been shown to affect energy consumption.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Power to Choose? An Analysis of Consumer Inertia in the Residential Electricity Market

Hortaçsu

Madanizadeh

Puller

2017

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy

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177

114

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“…Third, providing pricing information or changing pricing structures through incentives was often ineffective. Pellerano et al (2017) provided an example that warrants further study: adding economic incentives to normative messaging not only did not increase the efficacy of the messaging but might have reduced it [68]. Sudarshan (2017) offered similar results, as the nudge treatment group no longer reduced consumption with the addition of incentives [70].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Testing more than just feedback, Pellerano, Price, Puller, and Sánchez (2017) tested normative messaging along with extrinsic financial incentives on residential electricity consumption, finding that these incentives did not increase the strength of normative messages [68]. In another cost-based intervention, McCoy and Lyons (2017) provided consumers with exposure to time-of-use tariffs, finding that this group of households did reduce overall and peak electricity consumption, but ended up reducing investments in other household energy efficiency measures [69].…”

Section: Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

Becoming FEW Conscious: A Conceptual Typology of Household Behavior Change Interventions Targeting the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus

2019

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The food-energy-water (FEW) nexus presents an opportunity to rethink predominant approaches to household behavior change science. We linked emerging FEW nexus research with existing literature examining household consumption and pro-environmental behaviors. While a large body of work examines the environmental impacts of household life and explores pathways to behavior change for sustainability, the literature lacks studies that test interventions in multiple FEW resource categories, leaving researchers unable to identify tensions and tradeoffs in the household system. To guide this developing field and accumulate findings on household behavior across disciplines, we proposed a conceptual typology that synthesizes interdisciplinary analytic traditions to classify behavioral interventions targeting the household FEW nexus. The typology synthesizes behavioral interventions as active, passive, or structural, and household-specific or non-specific, illustrating six distinct categories: information, tailored information, action, gamification, policy/price change, and material/technology provision. A review of 40 studies that guided the typology identifies four significant lessons for future intervention research: household non-specific information and tailored information work better together, feedback is more effective when it is persistent, price-based interventions (information or incentives) are often ineffective, and material/technology provision is very effective but utilized in few household studies. To push forward household resource consumption science, we advocated for a holistic nexus focus that is rooted in interdisciplinarity, coalition building with stakeholders, and data reporting that facilitates knowledge accumulation.

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Do Extrinsic Incentives Undermine Social Norms? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Energy Conservation

Cited by 89 publications

References 22 publications

Information strategies for energy conservation: A field experiment in India

Information strategies for energy conservation: A field experiment in India

Power to Choose? An Analysis of Consumer Inertia in the Residential Electricity Market

Becoming FEW Conscious: A Conceptual Typology of Household Behavior Change Interventions Targeting the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus

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