The DOI matches its Crossref record; 98 of the 104 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Social norms and energy conservation
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.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“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].”
From Tackling climate change with machine learning (2023) · cites this paper as [16]
Citations
Cites
Axelrod, R., & Hamilton, W. D. (1981) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.7466396 · Cited by 20,065
How Much Should We Trust Differences-in-Differences Estimates?
Bertrand, M., Duflo, E., & Mullainathan, S. (2004) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1162/003355304772839588 · Cited by 10,641
A Theory of the Allocation of Time
Becker, G. S. (1965) · The Economic Journal · doi:10.2307/2228949 · Cited by 10,354
Estimating causal effects of treatments in randomized and nonrandomized studies
Rubin, D. B. (1974) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0037350 · Cited by 9,436 · cited 2×
“Nearly all are within the confidence intervals of the small sample pilots by Schultz et al. (2007) and Nolan et al.”
BackgroundA Simple Model of Herd Behavior
Banerjee, A. V. (1992) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.2307/2118364 · Cited by 6,556 · cited 1×
“[15] Banerjee, Abhijit (1992).”
Cialdini, R. B., Reno, R. R., & Kallgren, C. A. (1990) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.58.6.1015 · Cited by 5,965 · cited 2×
“[32] Cialdini, Robert, Raymond Reno, and Carl Kallgren (1990).”
BackgroundAkerlof, G., & Kranton, R. (2000) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1162/003355300554881 · Cited by 5,824 · cited 1×
“[5] Akerlof, George, and Rachel Kranton (2000).”
Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation
Imbens, G. W., & Wooldridge, J. M. (2009) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/jel.47.1.5 · Cited by 4,926
Regression discontinuity designs in economics
Lee, D. S., & Lemieux, T. (2010) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/jel.48.2.281 · Cited by 4,534
Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice
Imbens, G. W., & Lemieux, T. (2007) · Journal of Econometrics · doi:10.1016/j.jeconom.2007.05.001 · Cited by 3,701
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Friedrich, 2009, Saving Energy Cost-Effectively: A National Review of the Cost of Energy Saved through Utility-Sector Energy Efficiency Programs
- Lalonde, 1986, Evaluating the Econometric Evaluations of Training Programs, American Economic Review, 76, 604
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 2,301–2,400 of 2,706
Access to and consumption of natural gas: spatial and sociodemographic driversPreprint
Curtis, J. A., Tovar, M. Á. A., & Grilli, G. (2019) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics
Sokołowicz, M. E. (2020) · Przegląd Geograficzny · doi:10.7163/przg.2020.4.6 · Cited by 3
“2% (Allcott, 2011).”
Thulin, E. W., & Rakhimov, A. (2019) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/kah7s
Following the crowd: The effects of descriptive norms and self-esteem on dishonest behaviorPreprint
Farias, J. E. M., & Pilati, R. (2021) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/z68wa
Yamamura, E. (2022) · The Singapore Economic Review · doi:10.1142/s0217590822460031
“of comparing residents’ electricity use to that of their neighbors reduces energy consumption (Allcott 2011) and the effect of repeated reports of social comparison persists even though time has passed (Allcott and Rogers,2014).”
BackgroundMechin-Delabarre, A., & Alexandre-Bourhis, N. (2021) · Recherches en Sciences de Gestion · doi:10.3917/resg.140.0231
Lee, Y. (2021) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.1201/9781003128830-18 · Cited by 1
“For instance, presenting one’s energy consumption trend compared to others stimulates her/his motivation to stick to the similar trend of others’ energy use ( Allcott, 2011 ).”
Framing and social information nudges at Wikipedia
Linek, M., & Traxler, C. (2021) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2021.06.033
“It has been successfully applied, e.g., to increase payments of tax debt (Hallsworth et al., 2017), to reduce private energy consumption (Allcott, 2011) or to raise contributions to online communities (Chen et al., 2010).”
MethodBehavioral Insights in Infrastructure Sectors: A Survey
Ayling, S. C. E., Joseph, G., Miquel-Florensa, P., Bejarano, H. D., & Cardona, A. Q. (2021) · World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks · doi:10.1596/1813-9450-9704
van Gestel, L. C. (2021) · Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) · doi:10.33540/699
Feedback Design and Preference Elicitation: Field Experiments in Digital Economics
Romensen, G.-J. (2020) · University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) · doi:10.33612/diss.135380025
Brahm, F., Lafortune, J., & Tessada, J. (2018) · London Business School Research Online (London Business School)
Price, M. S., & Listo, A. (2019) · AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · doi:10.1257/rct.4492-1.0
Cognitive and physiological influences on energy related judgments
Lim, K. L. (2021) · DR-NTU (Nanyang Technological University) · doi:10.32657/10356/152384
Government Transfers, Work and Social Norms: Evidence from the Russian Old-Age Pension, 1990-2011Preprint
Grogan, L. A., & Summerfield, F. (2015) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2605574
Energy Communities and Energy Conservation
Andor, M., Vermeer, B., & Tomberg, L. (2020) · AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · doi:10.1257/rct.6850-1.0
Essays on the Economics of Suspense, Surprise, Superstars, and Soda
Kaplan, S. M. (2021) · eScholarship (California Digital Library)
Rosli, M. E., & Syukran, M. (2019) · Universiti Putra Malaysia Institutional Repository (Universiti Putra Malaysia)
Switching Off: Energy Saving Goals Outshine Incentives - Evidence from a Field ExperimentPreprint
Borzino, N., Hiepler, B., Schmitz, J., Schmitz, J., Schubert, R., & Tiefenbeck, V. (2021) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3976154
How Does Group-Decision Making Affect Subsequent Individual Behavior?Preprint
Dörrenberg, P., & Feldhaus, C. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4009413
Conforming with Peers in Honesty and CooperationPreprint
İşler, O., & Gachter, S. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3998031
(2017) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.1201/9781315183237-18
Saving water at Cape Town schools by using smart metering and behavioural change
Visser, M., Berger, K. J. E., Brühl, J., & Booysen, M. J. (2019) · AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · doi:10.1257/rct.4260-1.0
Dynamics of Social and Individual Preferences: Evidence from Madagascar
Uruena Moyano, V. A. (2021) · doi:10.53846/goediss-8752
Choosing to be Compared: How Comparisons Affect ProductivityPreprint
Banko-Ferran, D. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3992979
Promoting Electricity Conservation in Singapore
Cecchini, M. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-15-9287-4_11
Fierce Heat and Players’ Health: Examining the View on Japan High School Baseball
Yamamura, E. (2022) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su14031399
Does Lobbying Discourage Individuals from Fighting Climate Change?Preprint
Epperson, R. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4050519
Yamamura, E., Kohsaka, Y., Tsutsui, Y., et al. (2023) · Vaccines · doi:10.3390/vaccines11040822
“Any gender difference in the vaccination effect was not found [25,29], while vaccinated females showed lower anxiety symptoms than those not vaccinated [30].”
BackgroundResultSinning, M., & Zhang, Y. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4092625
Financial and symbolic incentives promote ‘green’ charging choicesPreprint
Kacperski, C., & Kutzner, F. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/zeb8q
Examination of Social Economic Impact on the Energy Consumption of Myanmar
(2019) · International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE) · doi:10.35940/ijrte.c1011.1083s19
Beer, D. L. (2016) · Verlag Barbara Budrich eBooks · doi:10.3224/84742029a
Celebrity endorsement in promoting pro-environmental behavior
Ho, T. Q. (2019) · AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · doi:10.1257/rct.4859
Wittenberg, I., Broska, L. H., Vögele, S., & Shamon, H. (2021) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3861602
de Souza, M. N. M. (2017) · AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · doi:10.1257/rct.2398-1.0
(2019) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-811359-2.00021-4
Community-based distribution of oral HIV self-testing kits: experimental evidence from Zambia
Hensen, B., Ayles, H., Mulubwa, C., et al. (2018) · doi:10.23846/tw2ie86
How managers can reduce household water use through communication: A field experimentPreprint
Hodges, H., Kuehl, C., Anderson, S. E., et al. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/j5v6y
Celebrity endorsement in promoting pro-environmental behavior
Ho, T. Q. (2019) · AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · doi:10.1257/rct.4859-1.2000000000000002
Bank, W. (2014) · World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks · doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-0342-0_ch9
Do Municipal Climate Protection Activities Interfere with Individual Engagement
Bartels, L. E. (2020) · AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · doi:10.1257/rct.6807
Celebrity endorsement in promoting pro-environmental behavior
Ho, T. Q. (2019) · AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · doi:10.1257/rct.4859-1.1
Using Incentives and Social Information to Promote Energy Conservation Behavior
Brock, M., & Borzino, N. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-15-9287-4_8
Lee, Y., & Nakazawa, N. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4103888
More Money or Better Procedures? Evidence From an Energy Efficiency Assistance ProgramPreprint
Chlond, B., Goeschl, T., & Kesternich, M. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4151557
The Struggle is Real: Motivating Goal Pursuit by Normalizing DifficultyPreprint
Park, A. B., Gershon, R., & Sharif, M. A. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4132744
Marketing and Economics of Harm Reduction: Evidence from Conservation Field ExperimentsPreprint
Brecko, K., & Hartmann, W. R. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4143753
Cheating Responses to Tax EvasionPreprint
Martinangeli, A., & Windsteiger, L. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4125079
Does Peer Information Crowd Out Performance?Preprint
Lee, G. H., Teo, J., & Xiao, E. (2022) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1846766/v1
Does Peer Information Crowd Out Performance?Preprint
Lee, G., Teo, J., & Xiao, E. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4164880
“Norm-based nudges are often used to influence a range of behaviours such as alcohol and drug use, water consumption (Ferraro et al. 2011; Goldstein et al. 2008) and energy use (Allcott 2011; Allcott and Mullainathan 2010; Schultz et al. 2007).”
BackgroundHe, S., Blasch, J., Robinson, P. J., & van Beukering, P. J. H. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4175854
Giaccherini, M., Herberich, D. H., Jimenez‐Gomez, D., List, J. A., Ponti, G., & Price, M. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4176888
Egocentric Bias in Effort Comparison Tasks Is Driven by Sensory Asymmetries, Not Attribution BiasPreprint
Stinson, C. L., Kagan, I., & Pooresmaeili, A. (2022) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2022.08.12.503607
Citizen Science, Fall/Winter 2016, Issue 33
(2019) · Sustain · doi:10.55504/2689-7296.1009
Song, K. (2022) · Queensland University of Technology · doi:10.5204/thesis.eprints.235039
The Choice of Honesty: An Experiment Regarding Heterogeneous Responses to Situational Social NormsPreprint
Gibson, R., Tanner, C., & Wagner, A. F. (2015) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2557480
Nudging Businesses to Pay Their Taxes: Does Timing Matter?
Gillitzer, C. (2018) · AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · doi:10.1257/rct.3059-1.0
Public Economics Through the Lens of ‘Journal of Public Economics’: A Fifty-Year ReviewPreprint
Mertzanis, C., Alshater, M. M., Marashdeh, H. A., & Atayah, O. F. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4182564
Nudging the Nudger: Performance Feedback and Organ Donor Registrations
House, J., Lacetera, N., Macis, M., et al. (2022) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w30547
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals and their intra- and intergroup relationsPreprint
Borinca, I., Gomides, M. R. D. A., & Mustafa, S. (2022) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/wtsm9
“For example, individuals in a variety of contexts value social acceptance by their neighbors and peers (Allcott 2011; Bond et al. 2012; Gaube et al. 2018; Gerber et al. 2008; Karing and Naguib 2021; Marshall 2019).”
BackgroundMasks, Cameras and Social PressurePreprint
Rasooly, I., & Rozzi, R. (2024) · Social Science Research Network · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4240985
Goswami, I., & Urminsky, O. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4199453
Blake-Rath, R., Dyck, A. C., Schumann, G., & Wenninghoff, N. (2022) · Progress in IS · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-15420-1_21
Behavioral Perspectives on B Corps
Tudor, M. C., Bernardic, U., Sooter, N. M., & Ugazio, G. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-14216-1_12
Challenges for Nudging and a Framework for Assessing Them
Michaelsen, P., & Sunstein, C. R. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-21558-2_2
Voslinsky, A., & Azar, O. H. (2022) · Judgment and Decision Making · doi:10.1017/s1930297500008949
“Several field studies report generally positive performance effects when providing subjects relative performance information (Azmat & Iriberri, 2010; Chen et al., 2010; Allcott, 2011; and Allcott & Rogers, 2014).”
BackgroundInfluentialMisperceived Trends and Norms: A Field Experiment to Address Weak Collective ActionPreprint
Fuhrmann-Riebel, H., D’Exelle, B., Vargas, K. L., Tonke, S., & Verschoor, A. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4311583
How can occupational psychology help organisations improve their environmental sustainability?
Maskell, J. (2020) · Clinical Psychology Forum · doi:10.53841/bpscpf.2020.1.332.29
Uncovering Design Criteria for a Digital Feedback Tool to Promote Energy Saving Behaviour
de Vries, P., & ter Halle, I. (2023) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/s2398-391420230000006002
NUTZERSENSIBILISIERUNG IM UMGANG MIT DER RESSOURCE STROM: ANFORDERUNGEN AN EINE SCHNITTSTELLE
Schmid, T., & Auer, T. (2022) · Proceedings of BauSIM · doi:10.26868/29761662.2022.73
Tabak, B. M., & Araújo, G. D. S. (2023) · Revista Brasileira de Políticas Públicas · doi:10.5102/rbpp.v12i3.8044
Cognitive strategies for peer judgments.
Olsson, H., Barman‐Adhikari, A., Galešić, M., Hsu, H.-T., & Rice, E. R. W. (2023) · Decision · doi:10.1037/dec0000208 · Cited by 3
The Central Role of Social Dynamics in Nudging Social Norms for Collective Health (Discussion Paper)
Villarreal, D. M., Méndez, A. M. R., Scartascini, C., & Simpser, A. (2023) · doi:10.18235/0004828
“…individual behavior in realms of policy interest, including tax compliance (Coleman, 2007; Luttmer and Singhal, 2014; Mascagni, 2017), energy use (Allcott, 2011; Alcott and Rogers, 2014; Bergquist and Nilsson, 2018; Schultz et al., 2007), charity donations (Alpizar et al., 2008; Smith et al.,…”
BackgroundElektrik Tüketim Teşviklerinin Talep Miktarı Üzerindeki Etkisi: Meta Analizi ile Bir İnceleme
Pehlivanoğlu, F., & NARMAN, Z. (2023) · Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi · doi:10.51290/dpusbe.1163442
Significant Developments in the Field of Environmental and Energy Economics
Jiang, Y. (2023) · American Journal of Industrial and Business Management · doi:10.4236/ajibm.2023.135021
Experimentalforschung in der Umweltsoziologie
Liebe, U. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-37222-4_9-1
Radtke, J. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-39320-5_4
Investigating Preferences and Behavior within Environmental Economics
Bastola, S. (2022) · Louisiana State University · doi:10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.5952
Digital Nudges: Contours and Challenges
Tor, A. (2023) · Economic analysis of law in European legal scholarship · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-25059-0_1
Augmenting the Public Management Toolkit with Behavioral Insights: The PRIx Framework
Lichand, G. F., Serdeira, A. D. P., & Rizardi, B. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-33034-6_7
Cao, S., Cao, X., Lei, Z., et al. (2023) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4498876
The Struggle is Real: Motivating Goal Pursuit by Normalizing DifficultyPreprint
Sharif, M. A., Gershon, R., & Park, A. B. (2023) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/xhk5g
On the Perils of Environmentally Friendly AlternativesPreprint
Alpízar, F., Carlsson, F., & Lanza, G. (2023) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4513955
Unpacking the Side Effects of Green NudgesPreprint
Picard, J., & Banerjee, S. (2023) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4514424
Martuza, J., & Aslan, E. (2023) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.31234/osf.io/nz2fy
Consumers' roles and opportunities in the energy market
Kowalska-Pyzalska, A. (2023) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-822882-1.00008-1
(2023) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-822882-1.00013-5
Consumer acceptance and engagement toward IES: practical experiences and findings
Kowalska-Pyzalska, A. (2023) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-822882-1.00011-1
Alkemade, F., de Bruin, B., El‐Feiaz, A., et al. (2023) · Earth System Dynamics · doi:10.5194/esd-2023-25-rc1
Metadata
- 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)
- 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
- 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
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
