Killing the bill: The interplay of social comparisons and financial framing on electricity-saving preferences

Fabien Giauque, Mehdi Farsi, Sylvain Weber () and Michael Puntiroli

No 25-02, IRENE Working Papers from IRENE Institute of Economic Research

Abstract: Using a discrete choice experiment (DCE), we examine how social comparisons and financial framing shape individuals' preferences for electricity demand behaviors, including conservation actions, efficiency investments, and green power mix. While a strong majority favors sustainable behaviors over inaction, social comparisons, with and without financial framing, significantly increase the likelihood of choosing inaction. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that this unintended effect arises among both below- and above-average users, although the underlying patterns differ across interventions. Further moderation analyses suggest that misalignment between individuals' self-perception and their relative position within the consumption distribution, as well as conflicting motivational mechanisms, partially explain these results.

Keywords: Electricity-saving behaviors; stated preferences; social comparisons; financial framing; discrete choice experiment (DCE); mixed logit (MXL) model; crowding-out effect. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D91 Q48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages.
Date: 2025-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dcm, nep-ene, nep-env, nep-exp and nep-nud
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:irn:wpaper:25-02

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