Social Norms in Energy

We often believe we act on logic or financial incentives, but research suggests we are often powerfully driven by social proof—the desire to match the behavior of our peers. However, this strategy can backfire if you find out you are already more efficient than average, causing you to slack off unless you receive social approval. Check this: Look at your next utility bill to see if it uses a graph or smiley faces to compare your usage against your "efficient neighbors."

The psychology behind energy conservation relies on distinguishing between descriptive norms (what people actually do) and injunctive norms (what people should do). While traditional policy relies on price signals, behavioral science suggests that we are often "cognitive misers" who look to others to determine correct behavior.

Descriptive norms are powerful but blunt instruments. In the Schultz et al. field experiment, and later in utility home-report programs, showing households their energy use compared with neighbors significantly reduced consumption among heavy users. This is the "herding" instinct in action: we hate to be the outlier who is wasting resources.

However, there is a catch known as the boomerang effect. When low-energy users saw that they were using less than the average, they often increased their consumption to regress toward the mean. Researchers solved this by adding an injunctive norm—a simple smiley face—to the bills of efficient users. This symbol of social approval signaled that their low usage was "good," effectively blocking the urge to slack off and keeping their consumption low.

Behavioral interventions in energy conservation demonstrate how social information and normative messaging shape resource allocation.

• Schultz et al. (2007): Descriptive normative messages reduced energy consumption for high users but caused a destructive increase among low users who drifted toward the group average. [1]
• Schultz et al. (2007): Adding an injunctive message, such as a smiley face, for low-consuming households eliminated this boomerang effect and successfully maintained their efficient behavior. [1]
• Goldstein et al. (2008): Appeals citing the behavior of guests in "this specific room" outperformed generic appeals to "hotel guests," demonstrating that highly specific local reference groups drive stronger compliance. [2]
• Allcott & Rogers (2014): Longitudinal analysis of home energy report programs across millions of households showed treatment effects that persist but decay over time, with average reductions of approximately 2% sustained across multiple years. [3]

Norm-based interventions are not universally effective. They work best on visible, measurable behaviors (like metered electricity).