Information strategies for energy conservation: A field experiment in India

Abstract

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.

Dataset on information strategies for energy conservation: A field experiment in India

“… The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled: “Information strategies for energy conservation: a field experiment in India” (Chen et al, 2017) [1] . The availability of high-resolution electricity data offers benefits to both utilities and consumers to understand the dynamics of energy consumption for example, between billing periods or times of peak demand.…”

Nudging for Cleaner Air: Experimental Evidence from an RCT on Wood Stove Usage

“…9 However, these policies have not yielded the expected results and, despite their implementation, ambient air pollution concentrations, have continued to increase in all major cities of the region (Schueftan and González 2015). pollution-of which a large part originates in electricity generation-the reduction in electricity consumption using these strategies has been found to be even more pronounce than in the U.S. (Chen et al 2017).…”

Field Experiments in Corporate Sustainability Research

“…The first two experiments took place at the University of California Los Angeles, one in undergraduate residence halls (Delmas & Lessem, 2014) and the other in a family apartment complex (Asensio & Delmas, 2015, 2016). The third experiment took place in a faculty housing in New Delhi, India (Chen et al, 2016).…”

“…This is in line with the call for more attention on behavioral questions in corporate sustainability research (Morgeson, Aguinis, Waldman, & Siegel, 2013; Zollo, Cennamo, & Neumann, 2013). We will draw on the examples of our own research in energy conservation behavior (Asensio & Delmas, 2015, 2016; Chen, Delmas, Locke, & Singh, 2016; Delmas & Lessem, 2014) to illustrate some of the hurdles that need to be overcome for the successful implementation of field experiments.…”