[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeeman/v127y2024ics0095069624001116.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Widening the scope: The direct and spillover effects of nudging water efficiency in the presence of other behavioral interventions

Author

Listed:
  • Bonan, J.
  • Cattaneo, C.
  • d’Adda, G.
  • Galliera, A.
  • Tavoni, M.
Abstract
Policymakers and firms use behavioral interventions to promote sustainable development in various domains. A correct impact evaluation requires looking beyond the targeted domain and assessing its interactions with similar interventions. Existing evidence in this area is limited, leading to potential misestimation of behavioural interventions and poor guidance on their design. Here, we test the impact of a two-year social information campaign to nudge water conservation through a large-scale randomized controlled trial implemented with a multi-resource company,. We find that the water nudge significantly decreases water and electricity usage, but not that of gas. Spillovers arise for customers who do not receive nudges targeting the other resources. Customers receiving the water report are also significantly less likely to deactivate their gas and electricity contracts, regardless of whether they receive other reports. Our results suggest that multiple nudges strain users’ limited attention and ability to enact conservation efforts. Users’ constraints in attending to multiple stimuli need to be accounted in designing policy interventions to foster sustainable practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Bonan, J. & Cattaneo, C. & d’Adda, G. & Galliera, A. & Tavoni, M., 2024. "Widening the scope: The direct and spillover effects of nudging water efficiency in the presence of other behavioral interventions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:127:y:2024:i:c:s0095069624001116
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2024.103037
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0095069624001116
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jeem.2024.103037?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yoav Benjamini & Abba M. Krieger & Daniel Yekutieli, 2006. "Adaptive linear step-up procedures that control the false discovery rate," Biometrika, Biometrika Trust, vol. 93(3), pages 491-507, September.
    2. Todd D. Gerarden & Richard G. Newell & Robert N. Stavins, 2017. "Assessing the Energy-Efficiency Gap," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1486-1525, December.
    3. Marta Serra-Garcia & Nora Szech, 2022. "The (In)Elasticity of Moral Ignorance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(7), pages 4815-4834, July.
    4. Bhanot, Syon P., 2017. "Rank and response: A field experiment on peer information and water use behavior," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 155-172.
    5. Ferraro, Paul J. & Miranda, Juan José, 2013. "Heterogeneous treatment effects and mechanisms in information-based environmental policies: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 356-379.
    6. David P. Byrne & Andrea La Nauze & Leslie A. Martin, 2018. "Tell Me Something I Don’t Already Know: Informedness and the Impact of Information Programs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(3), pages 510-527, July.
    7. Ian Ayres & Sophie Raseman & Alice Shih, 2013. "Evidence from Two Large Field Experiments that Peer Comparison Feedback Can Reduce Residential Energy Usage," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 29(5), pages 992-1022, October.
    8. James Andreoni & Justin M. Rao & Hannah Trachtman, 2017. "Avoiding the Ask: A Field Experiment on Altruism, Empathy, and Charitable Giving," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(3), pages 625-653.
    9. Dolan, Paul & Galizzi, Matteo M., 2015. "Like ripples on a pond: Behavioral spillovers and their implications for research and policy," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-16.
    10. Jaime Torres, Mónica M. & Carlsson, Fredrik, 2018. "Direct and spillover effects of a social information campaign on residential water-savings," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 222-243.
    11. Jessoe, Katrina & Lade, Gabriel E. & Loge, Frank & Spang, Edward, 2021. "Residential water conservation during drought: Experimental evidence from three behavioral interventions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    12. Verena Tiefenbeck & Anselma Wörner & Samuel Schöb & Elgar Fleisch & Thorsten Staake, 2019. "Real-time feedback promotes energy conservation in the absence of volunteer selection bias and monetary incentives," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 35-41, January.
    13. Holladay, Scott & LaRiviere, Jacob & Novgorodsky, David & Price, Michael, 2019. "Prices versus nudges: What matters for search versus purchase of energy investments?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 151-173.
    14. John Beshears & James J. Choi & David Laibson & Brigitte C. Madrian & Katherine L. Milkman, 2015. "The Effect of Providing Peer Information on Retirement Savings Decisions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(3), pages 1161-1201, June.
    15. Alacevich, Caterina & Bonev, Petyo & Söderberg, Magnus, 2021. "Pro-environmental interventions and behavioral spillovers: Evidence from organic waste sorting in Sweden," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    16. Fang, Ximeng & Goette, Lorenz & Rockenbach, Bettina & Sutter, Matthias & Tiefenbeck, Verena & Schoeb, Samuel & Staake, Thorsten, 2023. "Complementarities in behavioral interventions: Evidence from a field experiment on resource conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    17. Kenneth T. Gillingham & Bryan Bollinger, 2021. "Social Learning and Solar Photovoltaic Adoption," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(11), pages 7091-7112, November.
    18. Ek, Claes & Miliute-Plepiene, Jurate, 2018. "Behavioral spillovers from food-waste collection in Swedish municipalities," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 168-186.
    19. Jen Shang & Rachel Croson, 2009. "A Field Experiment in Charitable Contribution: The Impact of Social Information on the Voluntary Provision of Public Goods," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(540), pages 1422-1439, October.
    20. María Bernedo & Paul Ferraro & Michael Price, 2014. "The Persistent Impacts of Norm-Based Messaging and Their Implications for Water Conservation," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 437-452, September.
    21. Alexander Maki & Amanda R. Carrico & Kaitlin T. Raimi & Heather Barnes Truelove & Brandon Araujo & Kam Leung Yeung, 2019. "Meta-analysis of pro-environmental behaviour spillover," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 2(4), pages 307-315, April.
    22. Russell Golman & George Loewenstein & Andras Molnar & Silvia Saccardo, 2022. "The Demand for, and Avoidance of, Information," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(9), pages 6454-6476, September.
    23. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    24. Paul J. Ferraro & Michael K. Price, 2013. "Using Nonpecuniary Strategies to Influence Behavior: Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Experiment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(1), pages 64-73, March.
    25. Bruno S. Frey & Stephan Meier, 2004. "Social Comparisons and Pro-social Behavior: Testing "Conditional Cooperation" in a Field Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1717-1722, December.
    26. Exley, Christine L. & Petrie, Ragan, 2018. "The impact of a surprise donation ask," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 152-167.
    27. Kenneth Gillingham & Amelia Keyes & Karen Palmer, 2018. "Advances in Evaluating Energy Efficiency Policies and Programs," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 10(1), pages 511-532, October.
    28. Wokje Abrahamse, 2019. "How can people save the planet?," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 2(4), pages 264-264, April.
    29. Miriam Bruhn & David McKenzie, 2009. "In Pursuit of Balance: Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(4), pages 200-232, October.
    30. Hunt Allcott & Judd B. Kessler, 2019. "The Welfare Effects of Nudges: A Case Study of Energy Use Social Comparisons," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 236-276, January.
    31. Joachim Schleich & Corinne Faure & Xavier Gassmann, 2019. "Household internal and external electricity contract switching in EU countries," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 103-116, January.
    32. Bonan, Jacopo & Cattaneo, Cristina & d’Adda, Giovanna & Tavoni, Massimo, 2021. "Can social information programs be more effective? The role of environmental identity for energy conservation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    33. Ali Hortaçsu & Seyed Ali Madanizadeh & Steven L. Puller, 2017. "Power to Choose? An Analysis of Consumer Inertia in the Residential Electricity Market," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 192-226, November.
    34. Heather Hodges & Colin Kuehl & Sarah E. Anderson & Phillip J. Ehret & Cameron Brick, 2020. "How Managers Can Reduce Household Water Use Through Communication: A Field Experiment," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(4), pages 1076-1099, September.
    35. Ximeng Fang & Lorenz Goette & Bettina Rockenbach & Matthias Sutter & Verena Tiefenbeck & Samuel Schoeb & Thorsten Staake, 2023. "Complementarities in Behavioral Interventions: Evidence from a Field Experiment on Resource Conservation," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2023_13, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    36. Robert Hahn & Robert D. Metcalfe & David Novgorodsky & Michael K. Price, 2016. "The Behavioralist as Policy Designer: The Need to Test Multiple Treatments to Meet Multiple Targets," Experimental Economics Center Working Paper Series 2016-05, Experimental Economics Center, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    37. Sudarshan, Anant, 2017. "Nudges in the marketplace: The response of household electricity consumption to information and monetary incentives," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 320-335.
    38. Daniel A. Brent & Joseph H. Cook & Skylar Olsen, 2015. "Social Comparisons, Household Water Use, and Participation in Utility Conservation Programs: Evidence from Three Randomized Trials," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(4), pages 597-627.
    39. Elisa Montaguti & Scott A. Neslin & Sara Valentini, 2016. "Can Marketing Campaigns Induce Multichannel Buying and More Profitable Customers? A Field Experiment," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 201-217, March.
    40. José A. Pellerano & Michael K. Price & Steven L. Puller & Gonzalo E. Sánchez, 2017. "Do Extrinsic Incentives Undermine Social Norms? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Energy Conservation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 67(3), pages 413-428, July.
    41. Hunt Allcott & Todd Rogers, 2014. "The Short-Run and Long-Run Effects of Behavioral Interventions: Experimental Evidence from Energy Conservation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3003-3037, October.
    42. Jacopo Bonan & Cristina Cattaneo & Giovanna d’Adda & Massimo Tavoni, 2020. "The interaction of descriptive and injunctive social norms in promoting energy conservation," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 5(11), pages 900-909, November.
    43. Paul J. Ferraro & Juan Jose Miranda & Michael K. Price, 2011. "The Persistence of Treatment Effects with Norm-Based Policy Instruments: Evidence from a Randomized Environmental Policy Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 318-322, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bonan, Jacopo & Cattaneo, Cristina & d’Adda, Giovanna & Tavoni, Massimo, 2021. "Can social information programs be more effective? The role of environmental identity for energy conservation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Cattaneo, Cristina & D’Adda, Giovanna & Tavoni, Massimo & Bonan, Jacopo, 2019. "Can We Make Social Information Programs More Effective? The Role of Identity and Values," RFF Working Paper Series 19-21, Resources for the Future.
    3. Andor, Mark A. & Gerster, Andreas & Peters, Jörg & Schmidt, Christoph M., 2020. "Social Norms and Energy Conservation Beyond the US," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    4. Brick, Kerri & De Martino, Samantha & Visser, Martine, 2023. "Behavioural nudges for water conservation in unequal settings: Experimental evidence from Cape Town," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    5. Stefano Clò & Tommaso Reggiani & Sabrina Ruberto, 2023. "Consumption feedback and water saving: An experiment in the metropolitan area of Milan," MUNI ECON Working Papers 2023-02, Masaryk University, revised Aug 2024.
    6. Tonke, Sebastian, 2020. "Imperfect Procedural Knowledge: Evidence from a Field Experiment to Encourage Water Conservation," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224536, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    7. Jessoe, Katrina & Lade, Gabriel E. & Loge, Frank & Spang, Edward, 2021. "Residential water conservation during drought: Experimental evidence from three behavioral interventions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    8. Daniel A. Brent & Corey Lott & Michael Taylor & Joseph Cook & Kimberly Rollins & Shawn Stoddard, 2020. "What Causes Heterogeneous Responses to Social Comparison Messages for Water Conservation?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 77(3), pages 503-537, November.
    9. John A. List & James J. Murphy & Michael K. Price & Alexander G. James, 2019. "Do Appeals to Donor Benefits Raise More Money than Appeals to Recipient Benefits? Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment with Pick.Click.Give," NBER Working Papers 26559, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Ukasha Ramli, 2021. "Social Norms Based Eco-Feedback for Household Water Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-13, March.
    11. Tonke, Sebastian, 2024. "Providing procedural knowledge: A field experiment to encourage resource conservation in Namibia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    12. Holladay, Scott & LaRiviere, Jacob & Novgorodsky, David & Price, Michael, 2019. "Prices versus nudges: What matters for search versus purchase of energy investments?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 151-173.
    13. Andrius Kažukauskas & Thomas Broberg & Jūratė Jaraitė, 2021. "Social Comparisons in Real Time: A Field Experiment of Residential Electricity and Water Use," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(2), pages 558-592, April.
    14. Rebecca Afua Klege & Martine Visser & Saugato Datta & Matthew Darling, 2022. "The Power of Nudging: Using Feedback, Competition, and Responsibility Assignment to Save Electricity in a Non-residential Setting," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 81(3), pages 573-589, March.
    15. Astrid Dannenberg & Gunnar Gutsche & Marlene Batzke & Sven Christens & Daniel Engler & Fabian Mankat & Sophia Moeller & Eva Weingaertner & Andreas Ernst & Marcel Lumkowsky & Georg von Wangenheim & Ger, 2022. "The effects of norms on environmental behavior," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202219, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    16. Yijie Wang & Lei Xie & Shuang Li, 2022. "The Use of Intergroup Social Comparison in Promoting Water Conservation: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-14, June.
    17. Joseph,George & Ayling,Sophie Charlotte Emi & Miquel-Florensa,Pepita & Bejarano,Hernán D. & Cardona,Alejandra Quevedo, 2021. "Behavioral Insights in Infrastructure Sectors : A Survey," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9704, The World Bank.
    18. Daniel A. Brent & Lata Gangadharan & Anca Mihut & Marie Claire Villeval, 2019. "Taxation, redistribution, and observability in social dilemmas," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 21(5), pages 826-846, October.
    19. Hernández, Francisco & Jaime, Marcela & Vásquez, Felipe, 2024. "Nudges versus prices: Lessons and challenges from a water-savings program," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    20. Gillingham, Kenneth & Tsvetanov, Tsvetan, 2018. "Nudging energy efficiency audits: Evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 303-316.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social information; Spillover effects; Resource conservation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics
    • Q25 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Water
    • D9 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:127:y:2024:i:c:s0095069624001116. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622870 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.