The role of psychological reactance in smart home energy management systems

“With an ever-growing demand for energy, our increasing consumption is producing more greenhouse gases and other pollutants, impacting climate change. One approach to reducing residential energy consumption is through the use of smart energy management systems. However, automation from smart technology inherently removes a certain amount of control from the user. If loss of control is perceived as a loss of freedom, this may lead users to experience psychological reactance when using these products. A set of experiments was conducted to assess how three features of a message notification from smart home energy management systems may induce reactance in users. In the context of a hypothetical smart thermostat, the participants responded to message notifications. The phrasing of the notification was altered depending on the assigned strength of language, type of temperature change, and justification given by the smart thermostat. Reactance was measured after exposure to the notification. Results indicated more authoritative language, temperatures outside the user’s comfort range, and a lack of justification from the thermostat had a significant effect on inducing reactance. Evidence suggested the presence of justification for the thermostat’s operations may have caused users to be more likely to accept the thermostat’s temperature change, even if that temperature was outside user preferences. This study has implications for designing smart home energy management systems to increase user acceptance and decrease potential frustrations”--Abstract, page iii