IMPROVING RESIDENTIAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION AT LARGE USING PERSUASIVE SYSTEMS

The paper presents a persuasive web application that stimulates residential energy conservation. The users of the application received consumption feedback that is based on electricity meter readings which they entered over a period of 6 months and which accounted for specific household characteristics. In a large scale field study which we conducted between April and September of 2010, 6’921 participants used the application. From a research perspective, the system allowed us to experimentally assess the effects of different socio-psychological concepts with regard to different measures such as popularity, choice, and energy conservation. The large user base and the real-world setting contributed to the validity of the findings. The discussion presented is structured along a behavioural change framework we adapted from Ölander’s and J. Thøgersen’s motivation – ability – opportunity model. Besides presenting the quantitative results of multiple studies and providing theoretical cues to outline the mechanisms behind the behaviour, we formulate guidelines that support the development of similar applications in research and industry

NUDGING PEOPLE TO PAY CO2 OFFSETS – THE EFFECT OF ANCHORS IN FLIGHT BOOKING PROCESSES

Carbon-offset donations provide a way to mitigate the environmental damage caused by carbon emissions from aviation, but the number of fliers who choose this option is low. Information systems can support environmentally friendly decision-making in the context of carbon-offset payments. In this research in progress, we describe the research background and a prototypical online environment we developed to conduct a series of online experiments with a variety of “nudges” to promote environmentally friendly decisions. We present the results of an experiment with 150 participants, which show that proposing higher levels of default payments (presented as a slide bar) on an online flight-booking platform significantly increases the amount of carbon-offset payments. Our research contributes to the emergent body of knowledge on green information systems and behavioural economics in IS and has important practical implications, as the results may help airlines and travel agents design online flight-booking processes such that more people decide in favour of offsetting the carbon emissions caused by their air travel

Understanding Energy Informatics: A Gestalt-Fit Perspective

World energy consumption is on the rise. Consequently, there is increasing focus on research on energy informatics (EI). Given the nascent state of research in EI, it is important for researchers to understand what has been accomplished within the EI literature and to be provided with a roadmap of what should be examined in future studies. Our study attempts to contribute towards this by providing a comprehensive review of the EI literature. Our analysis reveals that EI studies can be grouped into four different categories, and that there is an overfocus on viewing EI as only an energy-saving mechanism Such a focus ignores EI’s potential to serve non-environmental goals. Our manuscript provides a holistic understanding of EI success by drawing on the gestalt-fit perspective, and highlighting the multi-dimensionality of EI. The model should also help future researchers in understanding the salient topics of investigation with respect to EI

Addressing Inertia in Pro-Environmental Behavior through Nudges: A Review of Existing Literature and a Framework for Future Research

To counteract global warming, individuals must adopt pro-environmental behaviors, but many prefer their established behaviors because of inertia. This paper analyzes how we can address the inertia that hinders pro-environmental behavior using digital nudges. Our structured literature review finds 19 out of 20 studies that show how decision information nudges like feedback overcome behavioral inertia. Most of the habitual patterns we identified could be attributed to private household behaviors like inefficient energy or water consumption. We contribute a framework for how the three dimensions of inertia—behavioral, cognitive, and affective inertia—are best each addressed using informational, structural, and assistance nudges, respectively

THE EVOLVEMENT OF ENERGY INFORMATICS IN THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS COMMUNITY - A LITERATURE ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH AGENDA

This paper analyses the current state of research in the domain of energy informatics. The intention is to provide a structured overview of the existing body of knowledge in the investigated field. To accomplish this, the authors employed a literature analysis including major and relevant outlets from the IS and business study disciplines. In total, 109 papers were found. To illustrate the state of the art of the discipline, the authors develop a concept matrix showing the used methods and investigated units of analysis. On that basis, the agenda for future focused research opportunities is laid out

Household classification using annual electricity consumption data

Introduction: The knowledge about household properties (such as number of inhabitants, living area, heating type, etc.) is highly desirable for utility companies to pave the way to targeted energy efficiency programs, products and services. Raising individual household data via surveys or purchasing it is expensive and time consuming, and often only a small fraction of customers participate. Recently, data mining methods have been developed to automatically infer house-hold characteristics from smart meter consumption data. However, the slow smart metering rollout hampers practical implementation of these methods in many countries. In this work, we present a machine learning approach that reveals household properties from conventional annual electricity consumption data currently available at a large scale

INCENTIVES TO GO GREEN: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF MONETARY AND SYMBOLIC REWARDS TO MO-TIVATE ENERGY SAVINGS

Green information systems have been shown to contribute to environmental sustainability and help to prevent associated problems. Private households account for 25% of primary energy consumption in western countries, and therefore hold a great potential to curb the use of fossil fuels and prevent cli-mate change. As such, green information systems should not focus solely on the organizational con-text, but also target a single individual’s behaviour in their home. Personal information systems (e.g., web portals) can achieve this focus, however, need to be actively used to produce effects. System us-age can be effectively motivated through incentives, and therewith contribute to positive outcomes. Incentives are either monetary or non-monetary and can be implemented in different scales. In a large field experiment (n= 2,355), with real energy customers of a utility company, we tested the effective-ness of different types and sizes of incentive in motivating active system usage. We show that incen-tives significantly increased system usage of participants, and additionally increased energy savings. However, monetary incentives were not necessarily superior to non-monetary incentives

Green Nudges: How to Induce Pro-Environmental Behavior Using Technology

To avoid the detrimental consequences of global warming, digital nudges were recognized as effective means to steer individual behavior toward sustainability. We investigated the applications, contexts, and outcomes of green digital nudges by conducting a systematic literature review of 64 nudge interventions. We found six distinct types of nudges—priming, goal-setting, default, feedback, social reference, and framing—and 18 sustainable target behaviors (e.g., energy conservation). To explain how behavior changes through green nudges, we clustered the identified target behaviors into three behavior change outcomes: (i) altering an existing behavior, (ii) reinforcing an existing behavior, and (iii) forming a new behavior. Based on our findings, we propose guidance for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who seek to design choice architectures that facilitate pro-environmental behavior

Persuasion: an analysis and common frame of reference for IS research

Information Systems (IS) researchers persistently examine how Information and Communications Technology (ICT) changes attitudes and behaviours but rarely leverage the persuasion literature when doing so. The hesitance of IS researchers to leverage persuasion literature may be due to this literature’s well-documented complexity. This study aims to reduce the difficulty of understanding and applying persuasion theory within IS research. The study achieves this aim by developing a common frame of reference to help IS researchers to conceptualise persuasion and to conceptually differentiate persuasion from related concepts. In doing this, the study also comprehensively summarises existing research and theory and provides a set of suggestions to guide future IS research into persuasion and behaviour change