Abstract
Setting up a contest is a popular means to promote pro-environmental behaviors. Yet, research on contest-based interventions is scarce while norm-based interventions have gained much attention. In two field experiments, we randomly assigned 79 apartments to either a contest-based or a norm-based electricity conservation intervention and measured kWh usage for 2 and 4 weeks, respectively. Results from both studies showed that contest-based interventions promote intensive but short-lived electricity saving. In Study 1 apartments assigned to a norm-based intervention showed more stable electricity saving (low intensity and long-lasting). Study 2 did not replicate this finding, but supported that participants in the norm-based intervention also engaged in non-targeted behaviors. These results emphasize the importance of identifying how different intervention techniques may activate different goals, framing both how people think about and act upon targeted pro-environmental behaviors.
Highlights
Household energy use can be decreased by 20% through simple changes in everyday behaviors [1]
We propose that the contest-based intervention is a form of gain goal frame, while the norm-based intervention is a form of normative goal frame
Results from two field-studies suggest that a contest-based intervention motivates behavioral change through the goal to gain or save money, while the norm-based intervention motivates behavior change though the goal to act appropriately
Summary
Household energy use can be decreased by 20% through simple changes in everyday behaviors [1]. Interventions promoting behaviors that benefits the environment or harms the environment as little as possible [2] (i.e. pro-environmental interventions), seek to promote behavior change by appealing to various motives [3], such as improving one’s economy [4,5], avoiding health-related risks [6], or conforming to social norms [7]. These motives all have the capacity to change behaviors, but they may frame different goals, affecting how people think and act pro-environmentally [3]. The present study examines both behavioral and psychological effects of contest-based and norm-based intervention techniques targeting electricity conservation
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