Social Norms Based Eco-Feedback for Household Water Consumption

Abstract

Physical water scarcity is a growing threat to people’s lives around the world. Non-pecuniary interventions that encourage water conservation amongst households are an effective tool to promote sustainable consumption. In a randomised field experiment on 3461 UK households, a social norms based eco-feedback intervention was found to reduce water consumption by around 5.43 L a day or by 1.8% over 29 months. This effect did not persist for the 10 months after the intervention was stopped suggesting a lack of habit formation. Unlike previous studies, households with low consumption at baseline reduced their consumption the most, while high consumers did not. Heterogeneity was also found across quantile treatment effects, where households in the top and bottom quantiles increased their consumption. These results further contribute to the growing evidence on the effectiveness of combining social norms and eco-feedback as an intervention for conservation.

Changing Pro-Environmental Behavior: Evidence from (Un)Successful Intervention Studies

“…In their systematic review on community interventions, Biglan and colleagues [24] present interrupted time-series designs The field experiments examined the effect of real-world interventions on observations of actual behaviors of environmental relevance. For example, Ramli [14] studied the effectiveness of a feedback intervention on water use, and Goodhew and colleagues [15] tested whether inquiries about a wall insulation scheme would increase following the presentation of images visualizing heat loss from uninsulated walls. Similarly, Sloot and colleagues [16] examined which kind of appeal (financial, environmental, communal) was most effective in stimulating students to request information or to take a flyer about an environmental initiative.…”

Understanding Household Consumption Practices and their Motivations: Opportunities to Foster Sustainability Practices

“…Over the last couple of decades, technological interventions have been proposed to foster a reduction in household consumption, from web/mobile applications for monitoring and informing consumption to tangible interfaces [11,42,61,81,83,105,106]. Nonetheless, evidence reveals that after only a short time of usage, household consumption-related interventions are frequently relegated to unobtrusive locations in the home and benefits diminish [49].…”

Strategies for guiding urban residents’ water-saving behavior based on field experiments

“…水资源对于人类生存与社会发展起着至关重 要的作用， 人口增长、 气候变化、 城镇化和经济发展 等因素均加剧了水资源供应压力 [1] 。预测显示， 气 候变化可能会增加全球干旱发生的频率和严重程 度 [2] ， 在干旱引起的影响中， 缺水被认为是农村和城 市环境中的主要环境挑战之一 [3] 。中国是世界上最 缺水的国家之一， 随着中国城镇化进程不断加快， 城市环境的承载力逐渐下降， 城镇人口数量激增给 城市基础设施建设带来了巨大压力 [4] ， 尤其是水资 源供需矛盾问题已然成为社会发展的阻碍 [5,6] 题， 不利于社会稳定 [10] 。因此， 部分学者开始基于心 [11][12][13][14] 。例如， Bhanot [15] 通过开展大规模的现场实 验研究社会规范信息的节水效果， 结果表明禁令性 规范信息有助于人们主动节约用水， 而且有助于人 们对节水活动的关注； Ramli [16] 通过一项对 3461 个 英国家庭进行的随机实地实验发现， 基于社会规范 的生态反馈干预可以有效减少家庭用水量。然而， 受到有限理性假设的影响， 人们对信息的接受程度 受到信息呈现特点和方式的影响， 相同的信息呈现 给不同的人或者在不同的时间地点呈现给同一个 人， 都可能得到不同的响应 [17] 说。IMB 模型最早是由 Fisher 等提出 [18] ， 该模型将 影响行为改变的因素分为信息 (I) 、 动机 (M) 和行为 技能 (B) ， 认为应当制定干预措施来提高个人的知 识水平， 确保行为动机， 提供必要的行为技能， 并提 高自我效能感以改变行为。IMB 模型最早应用于 促进健康行为干预领域， 例如， Bakir 等 [19] 研究了基 于信息-动机-行为技能模型的干预措施对血糖状 况不佳的青少年的知识水平、 个人和社会动机水 平、 行为技能和糖化血红蛋白水平的影响； Ouyaba 等 [20] 研究了基于信息-动机-行为技能模型的信息干 预对年轻女性接种人乳头瘤病毒(HPV)疫苗意图 的影响。近年来， IMB 模型逐渐被应用于节水领 域。尽管鲜有研究明确地指出受到 IMB 框架的指 导， 但是所有旨在减少用水的信息干预措施都使用 了信息、 动机和行为技能的某些组成部分 [21] 。例如， Tijs 等 [22] 考察了金钱呼吁和环境呼吁信息对居民用 水行为的影响， 使用了 IMB 模型三要素中的动机 (M) 和行为技能 (B) ； Joo 等 [23] 探讨了社会规范信息、 承诺和节水社会目标对酒店客人节水行为的影响， 利用了模型中的节水动机(M)。将 IMB 模型扩展 到水资源保护领域具有一定的合理性 [24] 为模式 [25] 。使新的规范和考虑因素进入决策过程， 代替和改变原有习惯， 这个过程被称为规范激活 [26]…”