IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2018 - 27

Many factors in addition to price and economic
self-interest motivate people to engage in
sustainable energy behavior.

Yet providing feedback on one's behavior or environmental performance has proven to be effective in encouraging sustainable energy behavior, particularly if it is
provided frequently and immediately after or even while
the behavior occurs. comparative feedback, where one's
behavior is compared to the behavior of others, also can
be effective at encouraging sustainable energy behaviors,
especially when people learn that others act more sustainably than they do (as people are motivated to act in
line with the norm) and when the comparison group is
similar to the receiver (as this provides a more credible
reference point).
strategies can take advantage of the human desire to be
consistent, and acting in line with previous statements or
actions will strengthen their intrinsic motivation to act sustainably. for example, people are more likely to engage in sustainable energy behavior when they explicitly set the goal to
do so, particularly when combined with feedback so that they
learn to what extent their goals have been achieved. commitment strategies, where people make a private or public statement to engage in particular sustainable energy behavior, and
implementation intentions, where people additionally indicate how and when they will engage in the relevant behavior
and how they will deal with possible barriers, have resulted
in long-term behavior changes. alternatively, people can be
made aware of their previous sustainable actions, which will
make them realize that they are a person who acts sustainably,
thereby strengthening their environmental self-identity. This
can provide intrinsic motivation to act in line with this identity
in subsequent situations. This also suggests that emphasizing
that a person is not yet doing the right thing might weaken his/
her environmental self-identity and inhibit consistent sustainable energy behavior.
behavior modeling, that is, having peers demonstrate
sustainable behavior, can also be effective. it both invokes
social norms and shows how to carry out a behavior. This
suggests that network effects will matter-knowing people
similar to you are carrying out a behavior builds on norms
and provides information about how to proceed. community
or block-leader approaches, where local volunteers initiate
and deliver an intervention program in their neighborhood,
build on this logic. such strategies seem most effective when
people have strong ties with their community; people tend to
have higher trust in and are more easily persuaded by people
who are perceived to be similar to them, such as their neighbors, rather than outsiders.
january/february 2018

Tailored Approaches
it is important to remember that one size does not fit all. different individual and contextual factors may affect the sustainable energy behaviors of different groups. Thus, tailored
approaches are called for, taking into account individual and
sociocultural differences and targeting key factors motivating
or inhibiting the behavior of the relevant people. as noted, a
program targeted toward homeowners may have no impact on
renters, and a program based on tax rebates may not be effective for those who cannot bear up-front costs. information that
takes into account the opportunities faced by and the motivations of different individuals appears to be more effective than
generic information. for example, information about sustainable energy decisions can be framed in a way that is congruent
with values, making it more likely that those who strongly
endorse the relevant values will act accordingly.
There is considerable evidence that people are more likely
to take up new information that is compatible rather than in
conflict with their core values and existing beliefs. so for
those who give priority to biospheric values, climate change
messages may be effective, while for those who give priority
to self-interest, information about financial savings may be
more influential. While in mass marketing one would have
to include both messages, marketing via social media and
other social networks can target specific value implications
to specific audiences. information also can be tailored to the
circumstances faced by an individual, so that people only
receive information on the most effective options for them,
thus insuring salience and reducing information overload.
it is crucial to remember that constraints are typically not
equitably distributed. Hence, policies have to be attentive to
the needs of those who are struggling and empower them to
engage in sustainable energy behavior.
it is important to carefully evaluate the effects of strategies to promote sustainable energy behavior. evaluation programs should not only examine the effects of interventions
on energy behavior in the short as well as the long term but
also consider why interventions were effective (or not) by
studying changes in drivers of behavior. such insights are
important to enhance our understanding of the successes
and failures of intervention programs. furthermore, it is
important to compare those who receive an intervention program with a control group who did not participate in the program to be confident that any changes observed were caused
by the intervention rather than other factors that may have
changed at the same time.
ieee power & energy magazine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2018