Cited by 2,802Pro-Environmental Behavior and AttitudesEnergy, Environment, and Transportation PoliciesExperimental Behavioral Economics Studies

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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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Social network design for inducing effort
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“There is extensive evidence of social norms from the environmental economics and experimental economics literatures, including Allcott (2011), Campa and Serafinelli (2016), Cappelen et al. (2013), Dal Bó and Tervió (2013), DellaVigna et al. (2012), Fellner et al. (2013), Ferraro and Price (2013),…”
Local norms describing the role of the state and the private provision of training
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Bir Kamu Politikası Aracı Olarak Davranışsal İçgörü
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Suggested use? On evidence‐based decision‐making in industrial ecology and beyond
Zhu, J. (2020) · Journal of Industrial Ecology · doi:10.1111/jiec.13009 · Cited by 7
“Based on a randomized field experiment, Allcott (2011) shows that nonincentive social norms leads to residential energy conservation.”
Background
Do households conserve electricity when they receive signals of greater consumption than neighbours? The Korean case
Choi, S., Hwang, S., & Denzau, A. T. (2021) · Energy · doi:10.1016/j.energy.2021.120292 · Cited by 7
Can nudges save lives?
Ohtake, F. (2021) · Japanese Economic Review · doi:10.1007/s42973-021-00095-7 · Cited by 7
“2019), and energy-saving behaviors (Allcott 2011).”
The Relationship between Social Norms, Avoidance, Future Orientation, and Willingness to Engage in Climate Change Advocacy Communications
Latkin, C. A., Dayton, L., Coyle, C. R., Yi, G. T., Lee, D., & Winiker, A. K. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph182413037 · Cited by 9
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Barberis, N. C. (2018) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3111475 · Cited by 7
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Tasch, W., & Houser, D. E. (2018) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3211794 · Cited by 7
Discussion of current theories and future research on attitude-behavior gap in green consumption
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Homonoff, T. A., O’Brien, R., & Sussman, A. B. (2019) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w26048 · Cited by 7
Belt and Suspenders and More: The Incremental Impact of Energy Efficiency Subsidies in the Presence of Existing Policy InstrumentsPreprint
Houde, S., & Aldy, J. E. (2014) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2537910 · Cited by 7
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Normatively Framed Relative Performance Feedback Field Experiment and Replication
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Mol, J. M., Botzen, W. J. W., Blasch, J., et al. (2020) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3616189 · Cited by 7
“…social norms is a norm-nudge (Bicchieri and Dimant, 2019), which encourages certain behavior by informing individuals about the actions of others, for example by showing energy conservation behavior of neighbors (Allcott, 2011) or tax compliance rates of fellow citizens (Hallsworth et al., 2017).”
BackgroundInfluential
The Constructive and Destructive Power of Social Norms in the Presence of Authoritative InfluencePreprint
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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: 2,802
References: 104
Citations by year: 2026: 225 · 2025: 209 · 2024: 194 · 2023: 208 · 2022: 226 · 2021: 257 · 2020: 225 · 2019: 240 · 2018: 199 · 2017: 171 · 2016: 165 · 2015: 161 · 2014: 147 · 2013: 94 · 2012: 55
FWCI: 263.94
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 › Pro-Environmental Behavior and Attitudes
Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies
Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › 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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