Social Comparisons in Real Time: A Field Experiment of Residential Electricity and Water Use
2021 (English)In: Scandinavian Journal of Economics, ISSN 0347-0520, E-ISSN 1467-9442, Vol. 123, no 2, p. 558-592Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
In this paper, we carry out a field experiment that contributes to the literature on how social comparisons affect residential energy and water use in two important ways. First, we study a social comparison treatment that is continuous and communicated via pre‐installed in‐home displays, which are salient and updated in real time. Second, we estimate the effects of provision of social comparisons on two distinguished resources – electricity and water – in the same experimental setting. We find that, on average, our social comparison reduces daily residential energy consumption by 6.7 percent but has no effect on overall residential water use.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2021. Vol. 123, no 2, p. 558-592
Keywords [en]
consumer economics, electricity, field experiment, real-time displays, comparison information, water
National Category
Economics
Research subject
Economics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-179122DOI: 10.1111/sjoe.12422ISI: 000625218200001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85101933207OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-179122DiVA, id: diva2:1522348
Part of project
Enriching the energy policy toolbox - How to deal with real inefficiencies in energy use?, Swedish Energy Agency
Funder
Swedish Energy Agency, 39937-12021-01-262021-01-262021-07-09Bibliographically approved