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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Dursun, İ., Kabadayı, E. T., & Köksal, C. G. (2016) · Pressacademia · doi:10.17261/pressacademia.2016219940 · Cited by 22
“…activities (e.g. decreasing use, purchasing energy efficient appliances) energy conservation is promoted by environmental knowledge (Abrahamse et al. 2005), through regular information-or feedback (Steg, 2008; Carrico and Riemer, 2011, Allcott, 2011) or via peer education (Carrico&Riemer, 2011).”
Background
Household electricity demand after the introduction of solar photovoltaic systems
Sekitou, M., Tanaka, K., & Managi, S. (2017) · Economic Analysis and Policy · doi:10.1016/j.eap.2017.04.001 · Cited by 21
Nudging Corporate Compliance
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Applying social influence insights to encourage climate resilient domestic water behavior: Bridging the theory‐practice gap
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“This general effect has been replicated in other environmental domains including recycling (Nigbur, Lyons, & Uzzell, 2010); plastic bag use (Kim, Lee, & Hur, 2012); and energy conservation (Allcott, 2011; Costa & Kahn, 2013).”
Background
A fuzzy temporal approach to the Overall Equipment Effectiveness measurement
Foulloy, L., Clivillé, V., & Berrah, L. (2018) · Computers & Industrial Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.cie.2018.11.043 · Cited by 22
Using goal and contrast feedback to motivate Chinese urban families to save electricity actively — A randomized controlled field trial
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Nudging consumers for relevant data using Free JAR profiling: An application to product development
Luc, A., Lê, S., & Philippe, M. (2019) · Food Quality and Preference · doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.103751 · Cited by 22
Visualizing and gamifying consumption data for resource saving: challenges, lessons learnt and a research agenda for the future
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Nudging Acceptability for Wood Ash Recycling in Forests: A Choice Experiment
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Odi et Amo: A nudge to reduce the consumption of single-use carrier bags
Romano, A., & Sotis, C. (2020) · Waste Management · doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2020.09.021 · Cited by 21
Target, distance, and valence: Unpacking the effects of normative feedback
Bogard, J. E., Delmas, M. A., Goldstein, N. J., & Vezich, I. S. (2020) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2020.10.003 · Cited by 22
“Large-scale field studies of thousands of households demonstrate the effectiveness of normative feedback in reducing household energy consumption (Allcott, 2011; Allcott & Rogers, 2014).”
Background
A message of the majority with scientific evidence encourages young people to show their prosocial nature in COVID-19 vaccination
Tanaka, T., Nihonsugi, T., Ohtake, F., & Haruno, M. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-02230-1 · Cited by 21
How Long Do Treatment Effects Last? Persistence and Durability of a Descriptive Norms Intervention's Effect on Energy ConservationPreprint
Allcott, H., & Rogers, T. (2012) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 22
Self-citation
Social tipping dynamics in the energy system
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“…social norms and build on the findings of the San Marcos experiment along several dimensions: assessing the significance of the boomerang effect (Allcott, 2011; Ayres et al., 2013; Knittel and Stolper, 2019), estimating the long-term effects of comparative feedback (Allcott and Rogers, 2014;…”
Influential
Social Norms Information Treatments in the Municipal Water Supply Sector: Some New Insights on Benefits and Costs
Nauges, C., & Whittington, D. (2018) · Water Economics and Policy · doi:10.1142/s2382624x18500261 · Cited by 21
“7 In Allcott (2011), the provision of Home Energy Reports to households in 12 US utilities was found to have an average cost-effectiveness ratio of about 3.3 US cents per kilowatt-hour reduction in household use, where cost-effectiveness is defined as the annualized cost of printing and mailing…”
BackgroundInfluential
A Nudge in a New Direction: Integrating Behavioral Economic Strategies Into Suicide Prevention Work
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Would you like to know more? The effect of personalized wildfire risk information and social comparisons on information-seeking behavior in the wildland–urban interface
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“2007) and response attenuation (Allcott 2011; Ayres et al.”
BackgroundResultInfluential
Can Behaviorally Informed Urban Living Labs Foster the Energy Transition in Cities?
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“As an example, energy consumption data can be used to promote better energy consumption behaviors by feeding a nudge in the energy bill that provides information of similar peers’ energy consumption (Allcott, 2011).”
Method
COVID-19 Vaccine Passport and International Traveling: The Combined Effect of Two Nudges on Americans’ Support for the Pass
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“There is evidence that information on a person’s peers’ actions can induce pro-social behaviors [30,31] and that people tend to conform to the policy preferences of their peers [32].”
Background
Norm-Based Governance for Severe Collective Action Problems: Lessons from Climate Change and COVID-19
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“Messages based on descriptive norms have also proven to be effective at changing sustainability behaviors ranging from recycling to water conservation to home energy use (Cialdini, Reno, and Kallgren 1990; Goldstein, Cialdini, and Griskevicius 2008; Allcott 2011).”
Background
Water conservation through plumbing and nudging
Agarwal, S. D., Araral, E., Fan, M., Qin, Y., & Zheng, H. (2022) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-022-01320-y · Cited by 23
Actions speak louder than words: Attitudes, behaviour, and partisan identity in a polarised environmental domain
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Soft Economic Incentives and Soft Behavioral Interventions on the Public’s Green Purchasing Behaviour - The Evidence from China
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Using Targeting to Optimize Program Design: Evidence from an Energy Conservation Experiment
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“We build on a large literature that studies the causal impacts of home energy reports on household energy consumption (see, e.g., Allcott 2011, 2015; Ayres et al. 2013; Allcott and Rogers 2014; Brandon et al. 2017, 2019).”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluential
Non-monetary incentives to increase enrollment in payments for environmental services
Chabé‐Ferret, S., Coënt, P. L., David-Legleye, V., & Delannoy, V. (2023) · European Review of Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1093/erae/jbad014 · Cited by 21

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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