Can self-set goals encourage resource conservation? Field experimental evidence from a smartphone app

Andreas Löschel, Matthias Rodemeier and Madeline Werthschulte

European Economic Review, 2023, vol. 160, issue C

Abstract: This study leverages a large RCT to examine the potential of goal-setting nudges to encourage resource conservation at scale. We randomize a feature that allows subjects to set themselves energy consumption targets in a popular smartphone app. We document negative effects of the nudge on app utilization and estimate null effects on energy consumption with confidence intervals that rule out estimates from observational studies. A complementary survey identifies the mechanisms underlying these behavioral responses. Using a structural model and random variation of the app’s price, we estimate that the average user is willing to pay 7.41 EUR to avoid the nudge.

Keywords: Nudging; Goal setting; Field experiments; Scalability; Energy; Behavioral welfare economics; Smartphones (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D91 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014292123002404
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:160:y:2023:i:c:s0014292123002404

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2023.104612

Access Statistics for this article

European Economic Review is currently edited by T.S. Eicher, A. Imrohoroglu, E. Leeper, J. Oechssler and M. Pesendorfer

More articles in European Economic Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().