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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.
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“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]
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“2008 or Allcott 2011 for evidence of causal effects of descriptive norms on behavior). Furthermore, we now use a specification that combines all three factors that can shape identification choices—salience, status and costs—and explicitly takes into account the choice between religious and ethnic identity. This allows…”
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“…by the existence of programs designed to provide such information about neighbors to influence, for example, the conservation of electricity (Allcott 2011, Ayres et al. 2012, Costa & Kahn 2013) or water (Bernedo et al. 2014, Ferraro & Miranda 2013, Ferraro & Price 2013, Goldstein et al.…”
BackgroundInformation provision and energy consumption: Evidence from a field experiment
Aydın, E., Brounen, D., & Kok, N. (2018) · Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2018.03.008 · Cited by 118
“Therefore, in recent years, there has been a growing interest in the interventions to increase households’ energy awareness and knowledge in order to achieve positive behavioral changes (see, for example, Allcott, 2011b; Allcott and Rogers, 2014; Jessoe and Rapson, 2014).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialEffects of feedback on residential electricity demand—Findings from a field trial in Austria
Schleich, J. E., Klobasa, M., Gölz, S., & Brunner, M. (2013) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.05.012 · Cited by 116
di Sorrentino, E. P., Woelbert, E., & Sala, S. (2016) · The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment · doi:10.1007/s11367-015-1016-2 · Cited by 116
“The average treatment effects of OPOWER’s conservation programs ranged from 1.4 to 3.3 % of baseline usage, with a mean reduction in energy consumption of 2.0 % (Allcott 2011; Allcott and Rogers 2014).”
BackgroundInfluentialYouTube, Social Norms and Perceived Salience of Climate Change in the American Mind
Spartz, J. T., Su, L. Y.-F., Griffin, R. J., Brossard, D., & Dunwoody, S. (2015) · Environmental Communication · doi:10.1080/17524032.2015.1047887 · Cited by 123
“(Allcott, 2011) by using a communications strategy harnessing the power of perceived 12 J.”
BackgroundMethodSocial norm nudging and preferences for household recycling
Czajkowski, M., Zagórska, K., & Hanley, N. D. (2019) · Resource and Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.reseneeco.2019.07.004 · Cited by 123
Yin, J., & Shi, S. (2020) · Resources Conservation and Recycling · doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105116 · Cited by 117
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“…campaigns, goal setting, feedback, comparative feedback and reward (Winett et al., 1978; Becker, 1978; McClelland and Cook, 1980; Midden et al., 1983; Brandon and Lewis, 1999; Abrahamse et al., 2005; Darby, 2006; Abrahamse et al., 2007; Petersen et al., 2007; Ehrhardt et al., 2010; Allcott, 2011b).”
BackgroundMaking the implicit explicit: A look inside the implicit discount rate
Schleich, J. E., Gassmann, X., Faure, C., & Meißner, T. (2016) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2016.07.044 · Cited by 126
“As a consequence, individuals may rationally decide to only update their information irregularly (Allcott, 2013; Reis, 2006).”
BackgroundInfluentialUrbanization and the carbon cycle: Contributions from social science
Marcotullio, P. J., Hughes, S. M., Sarzynski, A., Pincetl, S., Peña, L. S., Romero‐Lankao, P., Runfola, D. M., & Seto, K. C. (2014) · Earth s Future · doi:10.1002/2014ef000257 · Cited by 113
Empirical power-consumption model for material removal in three-axis milling
Yoon, H.-S., Lee, J.-Y., Kim, M., et al. (2014) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.03.061 · Cited by 114
A toolkit for understanding and addressing climate scepticism
Hornsey, M. J., & Lewandowsky, S. (2022) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-022-01463-y · Cited by 135
Miller, M., & Alberini, A. (2016) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2016.07.031 · Cited by 113
Pellerano, J. A., Price, M., Puller, S. L., & Sánchez, G. E. (2016) · Environmental and Resource Economics · doi:10.1007/s10640-016-0094-3 · Cited by 113
Public Communication as a Tool to Implement Environmental Policies
de Vries, G. (2019) · Social Issues and Policy Review · doi:10.1111/sipr.12061 · Cited by 141
“For example, people are more likely to reduce their energy use when they become aware that their neighbors are saving more energy than they are because they then expect “energy saving” to be the desired behavior in their community (Allcott, 2011).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialReducing single-use cutlery with green nudges: Evidence from China’s food-delivery industry
He, G., Pan, Y., Park, A. F., Sawada, Y., & Tan, E. S. (2023) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.add9884 · Cited by 113
Khan, I. (2019) · International journal of energy and environmental engineering · doi:10.1007/s40095-019-0302-3 · Cited by 116
Lillemo, S. C. (2014) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.10.077 · Cited by 106
“Most studies on energy-saving behaviour focus on either cost issues or normative concerns (Allcott, 2011; Steg, 2008).”
BackgroundSudarshan, A. (2016) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2016.12.015 · Cited by 120
“Peer group comparisons have been widely deployed by some electricity utilities in the United States (Allcott and Rogers, 2014).”
ResultInfluentialLede, E., Meleady, R., & Seger, C. R. (2019) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.02.011 · Cited by 107
Longitudinal analysis of normative energy use feedback on dormitory occupants
Anderson, K., Song, K., Lee, S. H., Krupka, E. L., Lee, H., & Park, M. (2016) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.12.086 · Cited by 108
Reducing Carbon-Based Energy Consumption through Changes in Household Behavior
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Behavioural economics and its implications for transport
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Direct and spillover effects of a social information campaign on residential water-savings
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Rogers, T., Goldstein, N. J., & Fox, C. R. (2017) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033718 · Cited by 121
van den Broek, K. L., Walker, I. O., & Klöckner, C. A. (2019) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2019.06.048 · Cited by 110
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Advances in Evaluating Energy Efficiency Policies and Programs
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How do we effectively communicate air pollution to change public attitudes and behaviours? A review
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“Research also highlights how social norms and tacitly agreed regularities observed amongst groups of individuals influence behaviour (Charles and Charles 2012), such as in relation to energy and health behaviours (Allcott 2011; Cialdini and Trost 1998; Goldstein et al. 2008).”
BackgroundNudging Energy Efficiency Behavior: The Role of Information Labels
Newell, R. G., & Siikamaki, J. V. (2013) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w19224 · Cited by 103
Disclosure: Psychology Changes EverythingPreprint
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“While this percentage is consistent with other studies about information interventions (e.g., utility billing information comparing homes with neighbors; Allcott, 2011; Schultz, Nolan, Cialdini, Goldstein, & Griskevicius, 2007), there are other factors that may contribute to the effect size.”
ResultAndrews, R. N. L., & Johnson, E. (2015) · Energy Research & Social Science · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2015.09.001 · Cited by 101
Can we nudge farmers into saving water? Evidence from a randomised experiment
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“consumption and collective group consumption, have been shown to have an effect on the reduction of households’ electricity and water consumption (Nolan et al., 2008; Allcott, 2011; Ferraro, Miranda and Price, 2011; Ayres, Raseman and Shih, 2013; Costa and Kahn, 2013; Ferraro and Price, 2013).”
BackgroundIs There an Energy Efficiency Gap?
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Self-citationA Large-Scale Study on Predicting and Contextualizing Building Energy Usage
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“From the energy community, our work builds most directly upon the studies, mentioned above, that highlight the importance of normative feedback for improving energy ef-ficiency (Cialdini and Schultz 2004; Allcott 2010).”
BackgroundInfluentialPeople’s decisions matter: understanding and addressing energy poverty with behavioral economics
Valle, N. D. (2019) · Energy and Buildings · doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.109515 · Cited by 104
Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour through green identity labelling
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Learning from Behavioural Changes That Fail
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Self-citationInformation provision and consumer behavior: A natural experiment in billing frequency
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The Impact of Vivid Messages on Reducing Energy Consumption Related to Hot Water Use
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BackgroundIs our everyday comfort for sale? Preferences for demand management on the electricity market
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On the social inappropriateness of discrimination
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“There is also evidence from econometric research (e.g. Buonanno et al., 2009) and natural field experiments (e.g. Allcott, 2011) suggesting norms drive behaviour outside the lab.”
BackgroundWhen nudges aren’t enough: Norms, incentives and habit formation in public transport usage
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Dolan, P., & Metcalfe, R. (2015) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2589269 · Cited by 104
“These included 'smiley faces' (or emoticons) on the descriptive norm feedback reports given to these relatively low users, although Allcott (2011) questions their importance.”
InfluentialUsing behavioural economic theory in modelling of demand response
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Leveraging Social Science to Generate Lasting Engagement with Climate Change Solutions
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Dynamics of social influence on consumption choices: A social network representation
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“Literature in social science elaborates that information about other choices alters a wide range of behaviours, such as reducing consumption [79], conserving household energy [80] and preventing risky behaviours.”
BackgroundWynes, S., Nicholas, K. A., Zhao, J., & Donner, S. D. (2018) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aae5d7 · Cited by 98
“Several studies on household energy (Wilhite and Ling 1995, Allcott 2011, Arimura et al 2011) have addressed cost, but the majority of behavioural intervention studies do not report the time, cost, or feasibility of implementation, making comparisons of cost-effectiveness of actual emissions…”
BackgroundInfluentialEnergy Efficiency: What Has Research Delivered in the Last 40 Years?
Saunders, H. D., Roy, J., Azevedo, I. L., Chakravarty, D., Dasgupta, S., du Can, S. D. L. R., Druckman, A., Fouquet, R., Grubb, M. J., Lin, B., et al. (2021) · Annual Review of Environment and Resources · doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-012320-084937 · Cited by 100
“The evidence shows that the use of social norms is (cost-)effective at promoting energy efficiency and conservation, with savings ranging from 1% to 30% (84, 85).”
BackgroundCoupling social norms and commitments: Testing the underdetected nature of social influence
Jaeger, C. M., & Schultz, P. W. (2017) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.03.015 · Cited by 106
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“…changes may only have a transitory effect on electricity use if households return to their long-practiced habits after a certain time (e.g. Allcott, 2011), the http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.05.002 Received 14 December 2016; Received in revised form 25 April 2017; Accepted 1 May…”
BackgroundInfluentialBehavioral Science and Public Policy
Sunstein, C. R. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108973144 · Cited by 98
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Turning green: Agent-based modeling of the adoption of dynamic electricity tariffs
Kowalska-Pyzalska, A., Maciejowska, K., Suszczyński, K., Sznajd-Weron, K., & Weron, R. (2014) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2014.04.021 · Cited by 95
Giraudet, L.-G. (2020) · Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104698 · Cited by 99
Agricultural Adoption and Behavioral Economics: Bridging the Gap
Streletskaya, N. A., Bell, S., Kecinski, M., Li, T., Banerjee, S., Palm‐Forster, L. H., & Pannell, D. J. (2020) · Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy · doi:10.1002/aepp.13006 · Cited by 111
Bolsen, T., Leeper, T. J., & Shapiro, M. A. (2013) · American Politics Research · doi:10.1177/1532673x13484173 · Cited by 90
“In a number of social comparison treatments in large-scale field experiments which examine how information about the behavior of others affects energy and water conservation,3 it has been found that giving consumers feedback on their consumption, providing information on energy savings opportunities, comparing their u…”
BackgroundBoudet, H. S., Ardoin, N. M., Flora, J. A., Armel, K. C., Desai, M., & Robinson, T. N. (2016) · Nature Energy · doi:10.1038/nenergy.2016.91 · Cited by 92
Frey, E., & Rogers, T. (2014) · Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1177/2372732214550405 · Cited by 95
“OPOWER’s treatment causes households to reduce their energy consumption; the size of the OPOWER effect is similar to the effect of raising short-term energy prices 19% to 31% (Allcott, 2011).”
Customized Nudging to Improve FAFSA Completion and Income Verification
Page, L. C., Castleman, B., & Meyer, K. E. (2019) · Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis · doi:10.3102/0162373719876916 · Cited by 93
“…they actively opt out of participating, to using prompts and reminders to increase the share of adults who get flu vaccines or contribute to their savings accounts, to using positive social norms to reduce residential home energy use (Allcott, 2011; Karlan et al., 2010; Stockwell et al., 2012).”
BackgroundLinos, E., & Riesch, N. (2020) · Public Administration Review · doi:10.1111/puar.13115 · Cited by 93
Tell Me Something I Don’t Already Know: Informedness and the Impact of Information Programs
Byrne, D., Nauze, A. L., & Martin, L. (2017) · The Review of Economics and Statistics · doi:10.1162/rest_a_00695 · Cited by 93
“…Rogers, 2009), rates of charitable giving (Frey & Meier, 2004), retirement savings (Beshears et al., 2015), water conservation (Ferraro & Price, 2013; Ferraro & Miranda, 2013; Bernedo, Ferraro, & Price, 2014; Brent, Cook, & Olsen, 2015), and energy conservation (Allcott, 2011; Costa & Kahn, 2013).”
InfluentialLinder, N., Lindahl, T., & Borgström, S. T. (2018) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00352 · Cited by 113
“…e.g., to increase private savings and tax compliance (see e.g., Hallsworth et al., 2014), reduce energy consumption (Allcott and Mullainathan, 2010; Allcott, 2011; Costa and Kahn, 2013; Allcott and Rogers, 2014), limit water and 1For example the “Behavioural Insight Team” in the UK, similar…”
BackgroundSocial comparison nudges without monetary incentives: Evidence from home energy reports
Myers, E. C., & Souza, M. (2020) · Journal of Environmental Economics and Management · doi:10.1016/j.jeem.2020.102315 · Cited by 88
“…and Gneezy, 2009; Milkman, Minson, and Volpp, 2014; Royer, Stehr, and Sydnor, 2015; Acland and Levy, 2015), and energy and water conservation (Allcott, 2011; Ferraro and Price, 2013). types of contracts respond to HERs with consumption reduction, then HERs could be an important lever to help…”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialLarge and persistent effects of green energy defaults in the household and business sectors
Liebe, U., Gewinner, J., & Diekmann, A. (2021) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-021-01070-3 · Cited by 100
Seven cognitive concepts for successful eco-design
MacDonald, E. F., & She, J. (2015) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.12.096 · Cited by 105
“Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) also employed social norms when comparing residential utility customers' electricity use to that of their neighbors in their innovative home energy reports (Allcott, 2011).”
BackgroundI saw the sign: Promoting energy conservation via normative prompts
Bergquist, M., & Nilsson, A. (2016) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.03.005 · Cited by 92
Palm‐Forster, L. H., Ferraro, P. J., Janusch, N., Vossler, C. A., & Messer, K. D. (2019) · Environmental and Resource Economics · doi:10.1007/s10640-019-00342-x · Cited by 90
“…impact of social norms in improving environmental decision making (e.g., motivating conservation behavior) (Ferraro, Miranda, and Price 2011; Allcott 2011; Ferraro and Price 2013; Bernedo and Ferraro 2017), but we know of only one study that tests the effects of providing social norm…”
BackgroundCurtin, J., McInerney, C., & Gallachóir, B. Ó. (2016) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.020 · Cited by 88
The Role of Sales Agents in Information Disclosure: Evidence from a Field Experiment
Allcott, H., & Sweeney, R. L. (2016) · Management Science · doi:10.1287/mnsc.2015.2327 · Cited by 93
“U(✓f ) = sfqfE(pfE , ✓f ) ↵ 2 ✓(2) f + wf (1)”
Self-citationNachreiner, M., Mack, B., Matthies, E., & Tampe-Mai, K. (2015) · Energy Research & Social Science · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2015.08.016 · Cited by 88
Rinscheid, A., Pianta, S., & Weber, E. U. (2020) · Behavioural Public Policy · doi:10.1017/bpp.2020.43 · Cited by 89
“…body of research has shown that altering people’s perceptions of descriptive social norms (i.e., their perceptions of what others typically think or do) can lead to substantial changes in pro-environmental behavior (Cialdini et al., 1991; Schultz et al., 2007; Allcott, 2011; Farrow et al., 2017).”
BackgroundNew clean energy communities in polycentric settings: Four avenues for future research
Blasch, J., van der Grijp, N. M., Petrovics, D., Palm, J., Bocken, N. M. P., Darby, S. J., Barnes, J., Hansen, P., Kamin, T., Golob, U., et al. (2021) · Energy Research & Social Science · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2021.102276 · Cited by 101
Behavioral Economics and Public Policy: A Pragmatic Perspective
Chetty, R. (2015) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w20928 · Cited by 95
Mummah, S. A., King, A. C., Gardner, C. D., & Sutton, S. (2016) · International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity · doi:10.1186/s12966-016-0400-z · Cited by 77
“This report is adapted from an effective intervention developed by Cialdini and colleagues to reduce household energy consumption [72] and uses descriptive norms, which have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing energy consumption [73, 74] and reducing alcohol consumption [75].”
MethodGulbinas, R., & Taylor, J. E. (2014) · Energy and Buildings · doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.08.017 · Cited by 88
“The results of these studies have spurred the development of utility-scale residential energy feedback programs [18, 19] that have resulted in significant energy savings that have been externally verified with large data sets of size [20].”
BackgroundThe Effect of Descriptive Norms and Construal Level on Consumers' Sustainable Behaviors
Ryoo, Y., Hyun, N. K., & Sung, Y. (2017) · Journal of Advertising · doi:10.1080/00913367.2017.1396514 · Cited by 88
Promoting energy efficiency at household level: a literature review
Solà, M. D. M., de Ayala, A., Galarraga, I., & Escapa, M. (2020) · Energy Efficiency · doi:10.1007/s12053-020-09918-9 · Cited by 90
“Allcott (2011a, 2011b) runs a natural field experiment in the United States to test the effectiveness of sending residential utility consumers a detailed report comparing their electricity use to that of their neighbours.”
BackgroundEfficiency and Equity Impacts of Energy Subsidies
Hahn, R. W., & Metcalfe, R. (2021) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.20180441 · Cited by 88
Martı́nez-Espiñeira, R., García-Valiñas, M. Á., & Nauges, C. (2014) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.12.002 · Cited by 89
Residential energy demand in the United States: Analysis using static and dynamic approaches
Salari, M., & Javid, R. J. (2016) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2016.09.041 · Cited by 85
Price perceptions in water demand
Brent, D. A., & Ward, M. (2019) · Journal of Environmental Economics and Management · doi:10.1016/j.jeem.2019.102266 · Cited by 84
Co-dynamics of climate policy stringency and public support
Konc, T., Drews, S., Savin, I. V., & van den Bergh, J. C. J. M. (2022) · Global Environmental Change · doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2022.102528 · Cited by 86
“…policy instruments addressing labour market and saving decisions (Lindbeck, 1997), public good contribution (B ´ enabou and Tirole, 2006; Meunier and Schumacher, 2020), energy conservation (Allcott, 2011), or environmental externalities (Nyborg, 2018; Ulph and Ulph, 2018; Konc et al., 2021).”
BackgroundInfluencing Financial Behavior: From Changing Minds to Changing Contexts
Dolan, P., Elliott, A., Metcalfe, R., & Vlaev, I. (2012) · Journal of Behavioral Finance · doi:10.1080/15427560.2012.680995 · Cited by 94
Yan, S., Li, K., Wang, F., et al. (2020) · IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications · doi:10.1109/tia.2020.2981916 · Cited by 84
“At the same time, it can help households reduce electricity bills to save money [11]–[13].”
BackgroundSmart meters and consumer behaviour: Insights from the empirical literature
Batalla-Bejerano, J., Trujillo-Baute, E., & Villa-Arrieta, M. (2020) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111610 · Cited by 80
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
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