Real-time feedback promotes energy conservation in the absence of volunteer selection bias and monetary incentives

Verena Tiefenbeck (), Anselma Wörner, Samuel Schöb, Elgar Fleisch and Thorsten Staake
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Verena Tiefenbeck: ETH Zurich
Anselma Wörner: ETH Zurich
Samuel Schöb: University of Bamberg
Elgar Fleisch: ETH Zurich
Thorsten Staake: University of Bamberg

Nature Energy, 2019, vol. 4, issue 1, 35-41

Abstract: Abstract Feedback interventions have proved to be effective at promoting energy conservation behaviour, and digital technologies have the potential to make interventions more powerful and scalable. In particular, real-time feedback on a specific, energy-intensive activity may induce considerable behaviour change and savings. Yet the majority of feedback studies that report large effects are conducted with opt-in samples of individuals who volunteer to participate. Here we show that real-time feedback on resource consumption during showering induces substantial energy conservation in an uninformed sample of guests at 6 hotels (265 rooms, N = 19,596 observations). The treatment effects are large (11.4% reduction in energy use), indicating that the real-time feedback induced substantial energy conservation among participants who did not opt in, and in a context where participants were not financially responsible for energy costs. We thus provide empirical evidence for real-time feedback as a scalable and cost-efficient policy instrument for fostering resource conservation among the broader public.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41560-018-0282-1

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