NUDGE - NUDging consumers towards enerGy Efficiency through behavioral science

Behaviour change
Sustainability
Nudging

Efforts to induce energy-friendly behaviour from end users through behavioural interventions are characterised by lack of customer personalisation (“one-size-fits-all interventions”), partial understanding about how different interventions interact with each other and contrasting evidence about their effectiveness, as a result of poor testing under real world conditions. We take a mixed approach to the consumer analysis and intervention design tasks combining surveys and field trials. Firmly rooted in behavioural science methods, we study individual psychological and contextual variables underlying consumers’ behaviour to tailor the design of behavioural interventions for them, with a clear bias towards interventions of the nudging type. The designed interventions are compared against traditional ones in field trials (pilots) in five different EU states, exhibiting striking diversity in terms of innovative energy usage scenarios (e.g., PV production for EV charging, DR for natural gas), demographic and socio-economic variables of the involved populations, mediation platforms for operationalising the intervention (smart mobile apps, dashboards, web portals, educational material and intergenerational learning practices).

We at imec-mict-UGent will study how households can be nudged towards decreased energy use. By first looking at which personal beliefs, characteristics and attitudes have an impact on the willingness to reduce energy consumption, we will develop distinct profiles about energy saving behaviour. Based on these profiles, personalised strategies for energy reduction will be designed.

Partners:
NL: IEECP - Institute for Climate and Policy
GR: DOMX - IOT startup
GR: Athens University of Economics and Business
PT: INEGI - Research Institute
DE: Fraunhofer - Research Institute
HR: ZEZ - Energy Cooperative
DE: MVV - Energy supplier
BE: Spring-Stof - School for gifted children
IT: Cittadinanzattiva - Citizen involvement organisation

Project duration: 01/09/2020 - 31/08/2023

Contact: Peter Conradie

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