Understanding visual feedback mechanism from three-dimensional of information, time and display: A meta-analysis of feedback research for household electricity conservation

Abstract

Visual feedback, which refers to the provision of energy information through visual interfaces to households, has emerged as a crucial approach for promoting energy conservation and addressing climate change. However, existing experimental studies lack a unified standard framework design for visual feedback, and have significant divergences in its effectiveness. Hence, we first propose a design framework for visual feedback on household electricity consumption, including information, time and display. On this basis, this study provides comprehensivemeta-analytic evidence on the effectiveness of visual feedback from 156 articles between 1976 and 2024, and finds that visual feedback has a moderate energy-saving effect. Further considering the interaction of 3D influencing factors, we explore the optimal combination of visual feedback using multilevel meta-regression. The results show that information, time and display are all important factors for visual feedback. When designing informational interventions, it is important to choose effective feedback frequency and feedback media. The optimal strategy of 3D visual feedback combination is “self-comparison + monetary incentives + low frequency + digital media”. These findings can help policy makers and utilities to develop effective feedback measures to promote household energy conservation.