Is social nudging too emotionally taxing? A field experiment of public utilities and electricity consumers in Denmark
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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Is social nudging too emotionally taxing? A field experiment of public utilities and electricity consumers in Denmark. / Jensen, Carsten Lynge; Andersen, Laura M.; Hansen, Lars Gårn; Henningsen, Geraldine.
I: Energy Research and Social Science, Bind 67, 101515, 2020.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Is social nudging too emotionally taxing? A field experiment of public utilities and electricity consumers in Denmark
AU - Jensen, Carsten Lynge
AU - Andersen, Laura M.
AU - Hansen, Lars Gårn
AU - Henningsen, Geraldine
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Appeals to act pro-socially are becoming an increasingly popular way for utilities and authorities to encourage environmental-friendly behavior because of lower financial costs than if price incentives were used. However, recent research suggests that these measures might be emotionally taxing for utility consumers. In this article, we present the results from a randomized field experiment conducted on a sample of 1967 customers serviced by a Danish electricity company. Our results support the suggestion that socially motivated appeals are significantly more emotionally taxing than monetary incentives. We find that this difference disappears when the pro-social appeal is supplemented with a monetary incentive. Finally, we suggest a strategy for reducing emotional ‘costs’ of pro-social appeals without increasing financial costs or reducing the effectiveness of the appeal.
AB - Appeals to act pro-socially are becoming an increasingly popular way for utilities and authorities to encourage environmental-friendly behavior because of lower financial costs than if price incentives were used. However, recent research suggests that these measures might be emotionally taxing for utility consumers. In this article, we present the results from a randomized field experiment conducted on a sample of 1967 customers serviced by a Danish electricity company. Our results support the suggestion that socially motivated appeals are significantly more emotionally taxing than monetary incentives. We find that this difference disappears when the pro-social appeal is supplemented with a monetary incentive. Finally, we suggest a strategy for reducing emotional ‘costs’ of pro-social appeals without increasing financial costs or reducing the effectiveness of the appeal.
KW - Door-in-the face
KW - Electricity consumers
KW - Emotional cost
KW - Nudging
KW - Pro-social behavior
KW - Randomized field experiment
U2 - 10.1016/j.erss.2020.101515
DO - 10.1016/j.erss.2020.101515
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85082825518
VL - 67
JO - Energy Research & Social Science
JF - Energy Research & Social Science
SN - 2214-6296
M1 - 101515
ER -
ID: 241935313