Persuading consumers to reduce their consumption of electricity in the home

Previous work has identified that providing real time feedback or interventions to consumers can persuade consumers to change behaviour and reduce domestic electricity consumption. However, little work has investigated what exactly those feedback mechanisms should be. Most past work is based on an i...

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Main Authors: Smeaton, A, Doherty, A
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2013
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author Smeaton, A
Doherty, A
author_facet Smeaton, A
Doherty, A
author_sort Smeaton, A
collection OXFORD
description Previous work has identified that providing real time feedback or interventions to consumers can persuade consumers to change behaviour and reduce domestic electricity consumption. However, little work has investigated what exactly those feedback mechanisms should be. Most past work is based on an in-home display unit, possibly complemented by lower tariffs and delayed use of non-essential home appliances such as washing machines. In this paper we focus on four methods for real time feedback on domestic energy use, developed to gauge the impact on energy consumption in homes. Their feasibility had been tested using an experimental setup of 24 households collecting minute-by-minute electricity consumption data readings over a period of 18 months. Initial results are mixed, and point to the difficulties of sustaining a reduction in energy consumption, i.e. persuading consumers to change their behaviour. Some of the methods we used exploit small group social dynamics whereby people want to conform to social norms within groups they identify with. It may be that a variety of feedback mechanisms and interventions are needed in order to sustain user interest. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
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spelling oxford-uuid:f0819af3-1eb7-4ea9-ac14-a19e7c2baf1e2022-03-27T11:48:28ZPersuading consumers to reduce their consumption of electricity in the homeJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:f0819af3-1eb7-4ea9-ac14-a19e7c2baf1eEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2013Smeaton, ADoherty, APrevious work has identified that providing real time feedback or interventions to consumers can persuade consumers to change behaviour and reduce domestic electricity consumption. However, little work has investigated what exactly those feedback mechanisms should be. Most past work is based on an in-home display unit, possibly complemented by lower tariffs and delayed use of non-essential home appliances such as washing machines. In this paper we focus on four methods for real time feedback on domestic energy use, developed to gauge the impact on energy consumption in homes. Their feasibility had been tested using an experimental setup of 24 households collecting minute-by-minute electricity consumption data readings over a period of 18 months. Initial results are mixed, and point to the difficulties of sustaining a reduction in energy consumption, i.e. persuading consumers to change their behaviour. Some of the methods we used exploit small group social dynamics whereby people want to conform to social norms within groups they identify with. It may be that a variety of feedback mechanisms and interventions are needed in order to sustain user interest. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
spellingShingle Smeaton, A
Doherty, A
Persuading consumers to reduce their consumption of electricity in the home
title Persuading consumers to reduce their consumption of electricity in the home
title_full Persuading consumers to reduce their consumption of electricity in the home
title_fullStr Persuading consumers to reduce their consumption of electricity in the home
title_full_unstemmed Persuading consumers to reduce their consumption of electricity in the home
title_short Persuading consumers to reduce their consumption of electricity in the home
title_sort persuading consumers to reduce their consumption of electricity in the home
work_keys_str_mv AT smeatona persuadingconsumerstoreducetheirconsumptionofelectricityinthehome
AT dohertya persuadingconsumerstoreducetheirconsumptionofelectricityinthehome