Social norms and energy conservation

Allcott, Hunt

doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2011.03.003

Cited by 2,715Environmental Education and SustainabilityEnergy, Environment, and Transportation PoliciesExperimental Behavioral Economics Studies

Social norms and energy conservation

Allcott, Hunt·2011·Journal of Public Economics

DOI 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2011.03.003

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Abstract

This paper evaluates a series of programs run by a company called OPOWER to send Home Energy Report letters to residential utility customers comparing their electricity use to that of their neighbors. Using data from randomized natural field experiments at 600,000 treatment and control households across the United States, I estimate that the average program reduces energy consumption by 2.0%. The program provides additional evidence that non-price interventions can substantially and cost effectively change consumer behavior: the effect is equivalent to that of a short-run electricity price increase of 11 to 20%, and the cost effectiveness compares favorably to that of traditional energy conservation programs. Perhaps because the treatment included descriptive social norms, effects are heterogeneous: households in the highest decile of pre-treatment consumption decrease usage by 6.3%, while consumption by the lowest decile decreases by only 0.3%. A regression discontinuity design shows that different categories of “injunctive norms” played an insignificant role in encouraging relatively low users not to increase usage.

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A large meta-analysis found that significant residential energy savings can be achieved by targeting the right interventions to the right households.
“A large meta-analysis found that significant residential energy savings can be achieved [215], by targeting the right interventions to the right households [14,16,17].”
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Brüggen, E. C., Hogreve, J., Holmlund, M., Kabadayi, S., & Löfgren, M. (2017) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.03.013 · Cited by 984 · see citing works
Social Norms and Pro-environmental Behavior: A Review of the Evidence
Farrow, K., Grolleau, G., & Ibanez, L. (2017) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.04.017 · Cited by 970 · see citing works
“” As in Akerlof and Kranton (2000) social norms manifest in this model by influencing the material and affective payoffs associated with conformity. In a model that deals more explicitly with social norms, Bénabou and Tirole (2012) conceive of behavior as a function of three main factors: anticipated reputational effe…”
BackgroundInfluential
Household energy use: Applying behavioural economics to understand consumer decision-making and behaviour
Frederiks, E. R., Stenner, K., & Hobman, E. V. (2014) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2014.09.026 · Cited by 943 · see citing works
“, a smiley-face emoticon, to serve as positive reinforcement) with the descriptive norm message to prevent a ‘boomerang effect’, where those who learn they have been under-estimating the prevalence of an undesired behaviour may then increase that undesired behaviour (for examples in the residential energy domain, see…”
Background
Is There an Energy Efficiency Gap?
Allcott, H., & Greenstone, M. (2012) · The Journal of Economic Perspectives · doi:10.1257/jep.26.1.3 · Cited by 964 · see citing works
Self-citation
Influencing behaviour: The mindspace way
Dolan, P., Hallsworth, M., Halpern, D., King, D., Metcalfe, R., & Vlaev, I. (2012) · Journal of Economic Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.joep.2011.10.009 · Cited by 788 · see citing works
Norm Perception as a Vehicle for Social Change
Tankard, M. E., & Paluck, E. L. (2016) · Social Issues and Policy Review · doi:10.1111/sipr.12022 · Cited by 826 · see citing works
“A number of large-scale randomized controlled trials find that this normative information motivates individuals to decrease their electricity consumption so as to meet normative standards (Allcott, 2011; Costa & Kahn, 2013; Schultz, Nolan, Cialdini, Goldstein, & Griskevicius, 2007).”
BackgroundInfluential
Should Governments Invest More in Nudging?
Benartzi, S., Beshears, J. L., Milkman, K. L., Sunstein, C. R., Thaler, R. H., Shankar, M. U., Tucker-Ray, W., Congdon, W. J., & Galing, S. (2017) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797617702501 · Cited by 867 · see citing works
“Authors Treatment Impact Cost Relative effectiveness Allcott (2011) An independent company sent reports to residential consumers that contained both comparisons to neighbors’ electricity usage and tips for conservation 2.0 percent reduction in energy usage on averagea Approximately $1 per report,…”
Influential
The behavioralist as tax collector: Using natural field experiments to enhance tax compliance
Hallsworth, M., List, J. A., Metcalfe, R. D., & Vlaev, I. (2017) · Journal of Public Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2017.02.003 · Cited by 764 · see citing works
The effectiveness of nudging: A meta-analysis of choice architecture interventions across behavioral domains
Mertens, S., Herberz, M., Hahnel, U. J. J., & Brosch, T. (2021) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2107346118 · Cited by 778 · see citing works
“In a natural field experiment with more than 600,000 US households, for instance, Allcott (18) demonstrated the effectiveness of descriptive social norms in promoting energy conservation.”
BackgroundInfluential
Information strategies and energy conservation behavior: a meta-analysis of experimental studies from 1975 to 2012
Delmas, M. A., Fischlein, M., & Asensio, O. I. (2013) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.05.109 · Cited by 672 · see citing works
“Recognizing the importance of social and psychological aspects, a number of studies on energy use behavior have made use of comparative feedback (Alcott, 2011; Schultz et al., 2007).”
ENERGY CONSERVATION “NUDGES” AND ENVIRONMENTALIST IDEOLOGY: EVIDENCE FROM A RANDOMIZED RESIDENTIAL ELECTRICITY FIELD EXPERIMENT
Costa, D. L., & Kahn, M. E. (2013) · Journal of the European Economic Association · doi:10.1111/jeea.12011 · Cited by 657 · see citing works
“Speech of June 13, 2008. http://www.aletmanski.com/files/davidcameron-powerofsocial-innovation.doc likely to engage in “voluntary restraint” than the average person (Kotchen and Moore 2008).”
Bridging the Energy Efficiency Gap: Policy Insights from Economic Theory and Empirical Evidence
Gillingham, K. T., & Palmer, K. (2014) · Review of Environmental Economics and Policy · doi:10.1093/reep/ret021 · Cited by 701 · see citing works
Dynamic Norms Promote Sustainable Behavior, Even if It Is Counternormative
Sparkman, G., & Walton, G. M. (2017) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797617719950 · Cited by 639 · see citing works
“An important question in water conservation and many other sustainability contexts involves the degree to which behavior change persists or tapers off with time (see Allcott, 2011; Kenthirarajah & Walton, 2015).”
Background
Wise interventions: Psychological remedies for social and personal problems.
Walton, G. M., & Wilson, T. D. (2018) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/rev0000115 · Cited by 617 · see citing works
Using Nonpecuniary Strategies to Influence Behavior: Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Experiment
Ferraro, P. J., & Price, M. (2013) · The Review of Economics and Statistics · doi:10.1162/rest_a_00344 · Cited by 631 · see citing works
Residential energy use and conservation: Economics and demographics
Brounen, D., Kok, N., & Quigley, J. M. (2012) · European Economic Review · doi:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2012.02.007 · Cited by 630 · see citing works
“…this into perspective: recent experiments with Home Energy Reports in the US – providing households information on their past energy consumption as compared to their neighbors and providing energy conservation suggestions – achieve comparable energy reductions, about two percent (Allcott, 2009).”
Background
Changing climates of conflict: A social network experiment in 56 schools
Paluck, E. L., Shepherd, H., & Aronow, P. M. (2016) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1514483113 · Cited by 610 · see citing works
Understanding Mechanisms Underlying Peer Effects: Evidence From a Field Experiment on Financial Decisions
(2014) · Econometrica · doi:10.3982/ecta11991 · Cited by 586 · see citing works
Knowledge is (Less) Power: Experimental Evidence from Residential Energy Use
Jessoe, K., & Rapson, D. S. (2014) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.104.4.1417 · Cited by 550 · see citing works
“g∈{P+I} βgD g it ∗Ait + γi + δd + σhw + μit (2)”
Designing Information Provision Experiments
Haaland, I., Roth, C., & Wohlfart, J. (2023) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/jel.20211658 · Cited by 539 · see citing works
Evidence from Two Large Field Experiments that Peer Comparison Feedback Can Reduce Residential Energy Usage
Ayres, I., Raseman, S., & Shih, A. (2012) · The Journal of Law Economics and Organization · doi:10.1093/jleo/ews020 · Cited by 550 · see citing works
How effective is nudging? A quantitative review on the effect sizes and limits of empirical nudging studies
Hummel, D., & Maedche, A. (2019) · Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics · doi:10.1016/j.socec.2019.03.005 · Cited by 558 · see citing works
Behavioural science is unlikely to change the world without a heterogeneity revolution
Bryan, C. J., Tipton, E., & Yeager, D. S. (2021) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-021-01143-3 · Cited by 547 · see citing works
Changing Norms to Change Behavior
Miller, D. T., & Prentice, D. A. (2015) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015013 · Cited by 529 · see citing works
Gender norms and social norms: differences, similarities and why they matter in prevention science
Cislaghi, B., & Heise, L. (2019) · Sociology of Health & Illness · doi:10.1111/1467-9566.13008 · Cited by 590 · see citing works
“…given feedback on how their behaviour compared to that of their peers or neighbours (used, for instance, to reduce their home energy consumption (Allcott 2011)); (ii) social norms marketing, where individuals are exposed to messages that suggest that most people around them engage in a positive…”
Background
Using implementation intentions prompts to enhance influenza vaccination rates
Milkman, K. L., Beshears, J. L., Choi, J. J., Laibson, D., & Madrian, B. C. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1103170108 · Cited by 500 · see citing works
“Providing information on social norms has been used to reduce household energy consumption (14, 15).”
Understanding the human dimensions of a sustainable energy transition
Steg, L., Perlaviciute, G., & van der Werff, E. (2015) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00805 · Cited by 495 · see citing works
“…(Smith et al., 1994; Pelletier et al., 1998; Steg, 2005; Carrus et al., 2008; Gatersleben and Steg, 2012), and when they expect that others would approve of it (Harland et al., 1999; Nolan et al., 2008), and when receive information on the sustainable energy behaviours of others (Allcott, 2011).”
Background
For better or for worse? Empirical evidence of moral licensing in a behavioral energy conservation campaign
Tiefenbeck, V., Staake, T., Roth, K. W., & Sachs, O. (2013) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.01.021 · Cited by 488 · see citing works
“These programs typically yield savings on the order of 2–5% across the population in the targeted area of utility consumption, equivalent to the effect of a price increase of 11–20% (Allcott, 2011).”
BackgroundInfluential
Behavioral Economics and Public Policy: A Pragmatic Perspective
Chetty, R. (2015) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.p20151108 · Cited by 495 · see citing works
If you build it, will they eat it? Consumer preferences for plant-based and cultured meat burgers
Slade, P. (2018) · Appetite · doi:10.1016/j.appet.2018.02.030 · Cited by 470 · see citing works
The Effect of Providing Peer Information on Retirement Savings Decisions
Beshears, J. L., Choi, J. J., Laibson, D., Madrian, B. C., & Milkman, K. L. (2015) · The Journal of Finance · doi:10.1111/jofi.12258 · Cited by 446 · see citing works
Normative foundations of human cooperation
Fehr, E., & Schurtenberger, I. (2018) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-018-0385-5 · Cited by 434 · see citing works
Rethinking real-time electricity pricing
Allcott, H. (2011) · Resource and Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.reseneeco.2011.06.003 · Cited by 441 · see citing works
“�! ( 2 ) f�D ih;� A is;� HP ig ;� T isg = Demand parameters for household i”
Self-citation
Values, Norms, and Intrinsic Motivation to Act Proenvironmentally
Steg, L. (2016) · Annual Review of Environment and Resources · doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085947 · Cited by 445 · see citing works
Site Selection Bias in Program Evaluation *
Allcott, H. (2015) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1093/qje/qjv015 · Cited by 426 · see citing works
“Also closely related are the academic studies of early Opower programs, including Allcott (2011), Allcott and Rogers (2014), Ayres, Raseman, and Shih (2013), and Costa and Kahn (2013).”
Self-citation
Nonprice incentives and energy conservation
Asensio, O. I., & Delmas, M. A. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1401880112 · Cited by 416 · see citing works
“These net energy savings, which invoke considerations of health damages as a psychological mechanism, are at the high end of prior nonprice strategies using social comparisons (39, 40).”
Scarcity Frames Value
Shah, A. K., Shafir, E., & Mullainathan, S. (2015) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797614563958 · Cited by 433 · see citing works
“Policymakers often use framing and subtle contextual changes to nudge behavior in a number of domains, from energy (Allcott, 2012) to health (Banks et al., 1995) to voting (Bryan, Walton, Rogers, & Dweck, 2011).”
Background
Stimulating Online Reviews by Combining Financial Incentives and Social Norms
Burtch, G., Hong, Y., Bapna, R., & Griskevicius, V. (2016) · Management Science · doi:10.1287/mnsc.2016.2715 · Cited by 399 · see citing works
“…incentives (Khern-am-nuai and Kannan 2014; Stephen et al. 2012; Wang et al. 2012) and social norms (Gerber and Rogers 2009; Ferraro and Price 2013; Allcott 2011) in isolation, we offer a first consideration of the relative and joint effects of financial incentives and social norms on motivating…”
Sustainable consumer behavior
Trudel, R. (2018) · Consumer Psychology Review · doi:10.1002/arcp.1045 · Cited by 420 · see citing works
Conspicuous conservation: The Prius halo and willingness to pay for environmental bona fides
Sexton, S. E., & Sexton, A. L. (2014) · Journal of Environmental Economics and Management · doi:10.1016/j.jeem.2013.11.004 · Cited by 413 · see citing works
Assessing the Energy-Efficiency Gap
Gerarden, T., Newell, R. G., & Stavins, R. N. (2017) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/jel.20161360 · Cited by 424 · see citing works
Understanding consumers’ intentions to purchase green products in the social media marketing context
Ying, S., & Wang, S. (2019) · Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics · doi:10.1108/apjml-03-2019-0178 · Cited by 404 · see citing works
The Welfare Effects of Nudges: A Case Study of Energy Use Social Comparisons
Allcott, H., & Kessler, J. B. (2019) · American Economic Journal Applied Economics · doi:10.1257/app.20170328 · Cited by 400 · see citing works
Self-citation
Observational Learning: Evidence from a Randomized Natural Field Experiment
Cai, H., Chen, Y., & Fang, H. (2009) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.99.3.864 · Cited by 369 · see citing works
Integrated Risk and Uncertainty Assessment of Climate Change Response Policies
Change, I. P. O. C. (2015) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781107415416.008 · Cited by 415 · see citing works
Green nudges: Do they work? Are they ethical?
Schubert, C. (2016) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.11.009 · Cited by 409 · see citing works
Peer influence on household energy behaviours
Wolske, K. S., Gillingham, K. T., & Schultz, P. W. (2020) · Nature Energy · doi:10.1038/s41560-019-0541-9 · Cited by 368 · see citing works
The effects of feedback on energy conservation: A meta-analysis.
Karlin, B., Zinger, J. F., & Ford, R. (2015) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0039650 · Cited by 361 · see citing works
“as such, consumers’ attention can drop away in the interim (Allcott, 2011).”
Background
Factors affecting energy-saving behaviours and energy efficiency investments in British households
Trotta, G. (2018) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2017.12.042 · Cited by 335 · see citing works
The Socio-Demographic and Psychological Predictors of Residential Energy Consumption: A Comprehensive Review
Frederiks, E. R., Stenner, K., & Hobman, E. V. (2015) · Energies · doi:10.3390/en8010573 · Cited by 357 · see citing works
“More recently, Allcott [141] found that providing descriptive normative information led to an average residential energy saving of 2.”
Background
Impact of community masking on COVID-19: a cluster-randomized trial in Bangladesh
Abaluck, J., Kwong, L. H., Styczynski, A., Haque, A., Kabir, M. A., Bates-Jefferys, E., Crawford, E., Benjamin-Chung, J., Raihan, S., Rahman, S., et al. (2022) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.abi9069 · Cited by 333 · see citing works
Consumers underestimate the emissions associated with food but are aided by labels
Camilleri, A. R., Larrick, R. P., Hossain, S., & Patiño‐Echeverri, D. (2018) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/s41558-018-0354-z · Cited by 344 · see citing works
Green Innovation and Finance in Asia
Tolliver, C., Fujii, H., Keeley, A., & Managi, S. (2020) · Asian Economic Policy Review · doi:10.1111/aepr.12320 · Cited by 299 · see citing works
“As such, effective energy conservation strategies for this sector rely on price (Ayres et al., 2013; Jessoe and Rapson, 2014; Jessoe and Rapson, 2015) and non-price (Allcott, 2011; Asensio and Delmas, 2015) policy interventions.”
Beyond Technology: Demand-Side Solutions for Climate Change Mitigation
Creutzig, F., Milan, B. F., Haberl, H., Khosla, R., Mulugetta, Y., & Seto, K. C. (2016) · Annual Review of Environment and Resources · doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085428 · Cited by 321 · see citing works
“In a certain sense, cost-effectiveness studies of behavioral options and social norms are possible, as demonstrated for energy conservation by communicating their relative ranking in terms of electricity bills (105, 142).”
Background
Explaining environmental behavior across borders: A meta-analysis
Morren, M., & Grinstein, A. (2016) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.05.003 · Cited by 328 · see citing works
Social Learning and Incentives for Experimentation and Communication
BenYishay, A., & Mobarak, A. M. (2019) · The Review of Economic Studies · doi:10.1093/restud/rdy039 · Cited by 328 · see citing works
To select effective interventions for pro-environmental behaviour change, we need to consider determinants of behaviour
van Valkengoed, A. M., Abrahamse, W., & Steg, L. (2022) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-022-01473-w · Cited by 331 · see citing works
Nudging in education
Damgaard, M. T., & Nielsen, H. S. (2018) · Economics of Education Review · doi:10.1016/j.econedurev.2018.03.008 · Cited by 321 · see citing works
“Allcott, 2011) and as a result it may be desirable to use targeted rather than universal nudges. Furthermore, as argued by Mullainathan and Shafir (2013) behavioural interventions may be particularly relevant and effective when individuals face economic or social scarcity because it occupies attention and potentially…”
BackgroundInfluential
Nudges that fail
Sunstein, C. R. (2017) · Behavioural Public Policy · doi:10.1017/bpp.2016.3 · Cited by 319 · see citing works
“The interest in such choice-preserving approaches stems from the belief – or the hope – that they can be highly effective in achieving important social goals (Pichert & Katsikopoulos, 2008; Bettinger et al., 2009; Allcott, 2011; Chetty et al., 2012; Benartzi & Thaler, 2013; Egebark & Ekstrom, 2013; Manoli & Turner, 20…”
Background
Behavioral Economics and Energy Conservation – A Systematic Review of Non-price Interventions and Their Causal Effects
Andor, M., & Fels, K. (2018) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.01.018 · Cited by 307 · see citing works
“Several high quality studies in this review (Allcott 2011; Ayres et al. 2013; Costa and Kahn 2013; Allcott and Rogers 2014) report significant, yet modest reduction effects.”
Background
Overcoming Salience Bias: How Real-Time Feedback Fosters Resource Conservation
Tiefenbeck, V., Goette, L. F., Degen, K., Tasic, V., Fleisch, E., Lalive, R., & Staake, T. (2016) · Management Science · doi:10.1287/mnsc.2016.2646 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
“Previous studies have found that conservation effects are larger for high-baseline users than for users who start out with a more efficient resource use (Allcott 2011, Ferraro and Price 2013, Degen et al. 2013, Allcott and Rogers 2014, Schultz et al. 2014, Brent et al. 2015).”
BackgroundResultInfluential
Household Food Waste: Multivariate Regression and Principal Components Analyses of Awareness and Attitudes among U.S. Consumers
Qi, D., & Roe, B. E. (2016) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159250 · Cited by 299 · see citing works
“Interventions by energy companies that measure household energy usage and report the household’s usage compared to that of neighbors have yielded reductions in energy usage across all households involved [40, 41], though similarly effective household-level measurement technology is currently lacking in the realm of fo…”
Background
Revealing household characteristics from smart meter data
Beckel, C., Sadamori, L., Staake, T., & Silvia Santini, B. (2014) · Energy · doi:10.1016/j.energy.2014.10.025 · Cited by 305 · see citing works
“It has been shown in the past that efficiency campaigns benefit from tailoring advice and motivational cues to the recipient [3, 4, 5].”
Background
Social Image and Economic Behavior in the Field: Identifying, Understanding, and Shaping Social Pressure
Bursztyn, L., & Jensen, R. (2017) · Annual Review of Economics · doi:10.1146/annurev-economics-063016-103625 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
Perceived value and adoption intention for electric vehicles in Korea: Moderating effects of environmental traits and government supports
Kim, M.-K., Oh, J.-S., Park, J., & Joo, C. (2018) · Energy · doi:10.1016/j.energy.2018.06.064 · Cited by 300 · see citing works
Data-Driven Innovation through Open Government Data
Jetzek, T., Avital, M., & Bjørn‐Andersen, N. (2014) · Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research · doi:10.4067/s0718-18762014000200008 · Cited by 300 · see citing works
“Over the next few months, Opower worked out a four-stage framework for customer interaction; analyze, engage, measure, and sustain [2], [16].”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
The Routledge Handbook of Urbanization and Global Environmental Change
Seto, K. C., SOLECKI, W. D., & Griffith, C. A. (2015) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315849256 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
Scaling Up Change: A Critical Review and Practical Guide to Harnessing Social Norms for Climate Action
Constantino, S. M., Sparkman, G., Kraft‐Todd, G., Bicchieri, C., Centola, D. M., Shell‐Duncan, B., Vogt, S., & Weber, E. U. (2022) · Gothic.net · doi:10.1177/15291006221105279 · Cited by 304 · see citing works
“There is tremendous inequity in responsibility for historical and current greenhouse-gas emissions: Roughly 10% of people contribute half of global emissions (Chakravarty et al., 2009; Gore, 2015; MacKay, 2008; Wynes & Nicholas, 2017).3 Nor are people on equal footing in terms of their capacity to take climate action…”
BackgroundInfluential
Residential electricity consumption behavior: Influencing factors, related theories and intervention strategies
Guo, Z., Zhou, K., Zhang, C., Lu, X., Chen, W. L., & Yang, S. (2017) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2017.07.046 · Cited by 293 · see citing works
Nudging out support for a carbon tax
Hagmann, D., Ho, E., & Loewenstein, G. F. (2019) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/s41558-019-0474-0 · Cited by 279 · see citing works
“This information has been shown to decrease energy consumption 1 .”
Disclosure: Psychology Changes Everything
Loewenstein, G. F., Sunstein, C. R., & Golman, R. (2014) · Annual Review of Economics · doi:10.1146/annurev-economics-080213-041341 · Cited by 311 · see citing works
“, 2007), and the impact on energy consumption of driving cars differing in fuel economy (Allcott, 2011).”
Voting to Tell Others
DellaVigna, S., List, J. A., Malmendier, U. M., & Rao, G. (2016) · The Review of Economic Studies · doi:10.1093/restud/rdw056 · Cited by 287 · see citing works
“…are public (Ariely, Bracha, and Meier, 2009; Lacetera and Macis, 2010), that campaign contributions depend on social comparisons (PerezTruglia and Cruces, 2013), and that energy consumption declines when social comparisons of energy usage are provided (Schultz et al. (2007); Allcott (2011)).”
Background
Quality Unknown: The Invisible Water Crisis
Damania, R., Desbureaux, S., Rodella, A.-S., Russ, J. D., & Zaveri, E. D. (2019) · World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks · doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-1459-4 · Cited by 302 · see citing works
Nudging with care: the risks and benefits of social information
Bicchieri, C., & Dimant, E. (2019) · Public Choice · doi:10.1007/s11127-019-00684-6 · Cited by 308 · see citing works
“To achieve such changes, nudging with social information about what others do or approve/disapprove of (in the same context) is the tool used to induce behavior change (e.g., Allcott 2011).”
Influential
Cash for Coolers: Evaluating a Large-Scale Appliance Replacement Program in Mexico
Davis, L. W., Fuchs, A., & Gertler, P. (2014) · American Economic Journal Economic Policy · doi:10.1257/pol.6.4.207 · Cited by 279 · see citing works
Advances in Measuring the Environmental and Social Impacts of Environmental Programs
Ferraro, P. J., & Hanauer, M. M. (2014) · Annual Review of Environment and Resources · doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-101813-013230 · Cited by 356 · see citing works
The question of energy reduction: The problem(s) with feedback
Buchanan, K. E., Russo, R., & Anderson, B. (2014) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2014.12.008 · Cited by 273 · see citing works
“For instance, only 1 (Alcott, 2011) out of the 22 “high quality” studies from Delmas et als'.”
Background
Making Transparency Transparent: The Evolution of Observation in Management Theory
Bernstein, E. S. (2017) · Academy of Management Annals · doi:10.5465/annals.2014.0076 · Cited by 280 · see citing works
“4 Powell, Koput, & Smith-Doerr, 1996; Teece, 1992), learning (Argote, Ingram, Levine, & Moreland, 2000; Driver, 2002; Hackman & Wageman, 1995; Sitkin, Sutcliffe, & Schroeder, 1994), and the modification of behaviors through the peer effects of social information (Allcott, 2011; Beshears, Choi, Laibson, Madrian, & Milk…”
Being surveyed can change later behavior and related parameter estimates
Zwane, A. P., Zinman, J., Dusen, E. V., Parienté, W., Null, C., Miguel, E. A., Kremer, M. R., Karlan, D., Hornbeck, R. A., Xavier Giné, A., et al. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1000776108 · Cited by 268 · see citing works
The capitalization of green labels in the California housing market
Kahn, M. E., & Kok, N. (2013) · Regional Science and Urban Economics · doi:10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2013.07.001 · Cited by 257 · see citing works
Consumer engagement: An insight from smart grid projects in Europe
Flavia, G., Mengolini, A., & Onyeji, I. (2013) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.05.031 · Cited by 265 · see citing works
Psychology of Climate Change
Steg, L. (2022) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-032720-042905 · Cited by 290 · see citing works
“Such descriptive norm information can indeed promote climate actions (Allcott 2011; Nolan et al. 2008; Schultz et al. 2007, 2015), although the effect size is small (Abrahamse & Steg 2013).”
Background
Smart meter devices and the effect of feedback on residential electricity consumption: Evidence from a natural experiment in Northern Ireland
Gans, W., Alberini, A., & Longo, A. (2012) · Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2012.11.022 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Beyond Willpower: Strategies for Reducing Failures of Self-Control
Duckworth, A. L., Milkman, K. L., & Laibson, D. (2018) · Gothic.net · doi:10.1177/1529100618821893 · Cited by 269 · see citing works
“In a massive field study run by the company OPower, being informed about the energy consumption of one’s neighbors in similar homes was shown to promote energy conservation, leading to reliable 2% year-over-year reductions in energy usage (Allcott, 2011). Moreover, these reductions in energy use persist over multiple…”
Background
Megastudies improve the impact of applied behavioural science
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“This basic effect replicates previous studies (Allcott, 2011; Ferraro & Price, 2011; Schultz et al., 2007) and demonstrates that the approach can be effectively applied to water (see also Fielding et al.”
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“Businesses that use this model tend not to provide explicit control or dispatch signals, but rather provide “nudges” and targeted incentives to create a response [41,42].”
Background
Using in-home displays to provide smart meter feedback about household electricity consumption: A randomized control trial comparing kilowatts, cost, and social norms
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Authors: Allcott, H.
Affiliations: New York University (US)
Corresponding author: Allcott, Hunt
Venue: Journal of Public Economics
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2011-10
Volume: 95
Issue: 9-10
Pages: 1082-1095
ISSN: 0047-2727 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2011.03.003
OpenAlex: W2139035425
Cited by: 2,715
References: 104
Citations by year: 2026: 179 · 2025: 181 · 2024: 185 · 2023: 209 · 2022: 232 · 2021: 256 · 2020: 223 · 2019: 229 · 2018: 191 · 2017: 170 · 2016: 161 · 2015: 166 · 2014: 144 · 2013: 94 · 2012: 54
FWCI: 328.82
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations: Journal of Public Economics (publishedVersion)
Topics: Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Environmental Education and Sustainability
Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies
Social Sciences › Safety Research › Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
Keywords: social norms, energy conservation, social comparison, residential electricity consumption, cost-effectiveness, injunctive norms, descriptive norms, treatment effect heterogeneity

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