Social comparison and energy conservation in a collective action context: A field experiment

Serhiy Kandul, Ghislaine Lang and Bruno Lanz

No 19-06, IRENE Working Papers from IRENE Institute of Economic Research

Abstract: This field experiment quantifies the impact of social norm information on the demand for indoor temperature. Based on high-frequency data from indoor temperature monitors, we provide participating households with a comparison of average temperature in their apartments relative to that measured in a control group. For more than 90 percent of participants, financial benefits of energy savings are only indirect, as building-level heating costs are shared across apartments in proportion to their volume. Despite the associated collective action problem, we estimate that the intervention induces a -0.28 degrees celsius reduction in average indoor temperature. This suggests that direct monetary incentives is not a pre-requisite for social comparison feedback to induce energy savings.

Keywords: Informational intervention; Monetary incentives; Energy savings; Social comparison feedback; Social norms. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D12 D62 D91 H41 Q41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 13 pages.
Date: 2019-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-exp and nep-soc
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Social comparison and energy conservation in a collective action context: A field experiment (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:irn:wpaper:19-06

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