Saving Mr. Water: anthropomorphizing water promotes water conservation

Abstract

Anthropomorphism refers to the assignment of human-like attributes to otherwise non-human entities. In the pro-environmentalism literature, there is indication that anthropomorphizing nature can promote green behaviors. The current research examines how anthropomorphizing water can promote water conservation behaviors via environmental locus of control—one primary impediment to people acting in an environmentally-friendly fashion. A randomized controlled field trial was carried out across three apartment buildings in Melbourne, Australia, from July 2018 to June 2019. At the end of the first six months, which served as our baseline, half of the households had received monthly water conservation tips within an e-mail newsletter format with water anthropomorphized; the other half received the same tips without anthropomorphism. In the latter six months, households in the experimental group consumed fewer liters of water than those in the control group. Our end-of-year survey revealed that anthropomorphizing water increased responding households’ internal environmental of control, which then encouraged water conservation behaviors. A follow-up laboratory experiment replicated the results within a controlled atmosphere. Both theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.