Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Bring behaviour into the digital transformation

Nature Energy volume 2, Article number: 17085 (2017) Cite this article

Subjects

Smart technologies in the energy sector could benefit from social science research — and vice versa.

Despite significant technological progress and energy efficiency gains, such as better-insulated buildings and more-efficient appliances, energy consumption in households has increased by 35% worldwide in the period 1990–2011 (20% over the same period in countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; OECD)1. Residential energy use, which accounts for a quarter of energy use worldwide1, largely depends on human behaviour and the context in which energy-relevant decisions are being made. Depending on the inhabitants, even energy consumption in homes with identical building characteristics and in the same location may vary substantially2. Consumers systematically fail to make even seemingly cost-effective investments in energy efficiency (for instance, replacing their old electric appliances with more efficient models that would pay for themselves quickly)3 and often focus their conservation efforts on actions with minimal impact on energy use (for example, turning off lights)4. Consequently, policymakers are increasingly seeking effective strategies to foster cost-effective investments in energy-efficient technologies and promote high-impact energy-saving practices among citizens.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

References

  1. Energy Efficiency Indicators: Essentials for Policy Making (International Energy Agency, 2014).

  2. Gram-Hanssen, K. Archit. Eng. Des. Manag. 10, 91–107 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Gillingham, K. & Palmer, K. Rev. Environ. Econ. Policy 8, 18–38 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Gardner, G. T. & Stern, P. C. Environ. Sci. Policy Sustain. Dev. 50, 12–23 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Benchmarking Smart Metering Deployment in the EU-27 with a Focus on Electricity (European Commission, 2014); http://ses.jrc.ec.europa.eu/smart-metering-deployment-european-union

  6. Southern California Edison installs 1 million smart meters. T&D World Magazine (2010).

  7. Darby, S. The Effectiveness of Feedback on Energy Consumption (Environmental Change Institute, 2006).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Ehrhardt-Martinez, K., Donnelly, K. A. & Laitner, J. A. S. Advanced metering initiatives and Residential Feedback Programs: a Meta-Review for Household Electricity-Saving Opportunities. (ACEEE, 2010).

    Google Scholar 

  9. McKerracher, C. & Torriti, J. Energy Effic. 6, 387–405 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Gölz, S. Feedback Seeking as an Active, Goal-Oriented Behavior — a Psychological Reframing of Energy Consumption Feedback. Dissertation, Univ. Marburg (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Jessoe, K. & Rapson, D. Am. Econ. Rev. 104, 1417–1438 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Davis, L. W., Fuchs, A. & Gertler, P. Am. Econ. J. Econ. Policy 6, 207–238 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Allcott, H. & Mullainathan, S. Science 327, 1204–1205 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Asensio, O. I. & Delmas, M. A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112 E510–E515 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Beckel, C., Sadamori, L., Staake, T. & Santini, S. Energy 78, 397–410 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. DellaVigna, S. J. Econ. Lit. 47, 315–372 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Schultz, P. W., Nolan, J. M., Cialdini, R. B., Goldstein, N. J. & Griskevicius, V. Psychol. Sci. 18, 429–434 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Allcott, H., Mullainathan, S. & Taubinsky, D. J. Public Econ. 112, 72–88 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Ebeling, F. & Lotz, S. Nat. Clim. Chang. 5, 868–871 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Tiefenbeck, V. et al. Manag. Sci.http://doi.org/bz4k (2016).

  21. Loock, C.-M., Staake, T. & Thiesse, F. Manag. Inf. Syst. Q. 37, 1313–1332 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. Contemp. Educ. Psychol. 25, 54–67 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Costa, D. L. & Kahn, M. E. J. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 11, 680–702 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Watts, D. J. Everything is Obvious (Crown Business, 2011).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Bughin, J., Chui, M. & Manyika, J. Ten IT-enabled business trends for the decade ahead. McKinsey Quarterly (2013).

  26. Allcott, H. & Rogers, T. Am. Econ. Rev. 104, 3003–3037 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, Verena Tiefenbeck is at the Bits to Energy Lab, Technology and Economics, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland and the Institute of Applied Microeconomics, University of Bonn, 53113 Bonn, Germany.,

    Verena Tiefenbeck

Authors
  1. Verena Tiefenbeck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Verena Tiefenbeck.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tiefenbeck, V. Bring behaviour into the digital transformation. Nat Energy 2, 17085 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2017.85

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2017.85

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing