Can Information about Energy Costs Affect Consumers Choices? Evidence from a Field Experiment

Last registered on July 13, 2020
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Can Information about Energy Costs Affect Consumers Choices? Evidence from a Field Experiment
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0006145
Initial registration date
July 13, 2020

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
July 13, 2020, 2:37 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Switzerland
Region
Country
Switzerland
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Adrian Obrist
Affiliation
ETH Zurich
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Claudio Daminato
PI Affiliation
ETH Zurich
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PI Name
Massimo Filippini
PI Affiliation
ETH Zurich
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PI Name
Nina Boogen
PI Affiliation
ETH Zurich
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PI Name
Claudio Daminato
PI Affiliation
ETH Zurich
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Massimo Filippini
PI Affiliation
ETH Zurich
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PI Name
Nina Boogen
PI Affiliation
ETH Zurich
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2017-04-01
End date
2019-03-01
Keywords
Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
Imperfect information; Limited attention; Consumers durable choices; Energy efficiency; Field experiment
JEL code(s)
C93, D12, D83, Q40
Secondary IDs
Abstract
There is an ongoing debate in the literature about whether imperfect information affects consumers' investment efficiency. We experimentally evaluate the role of imperfect information or limited attention about energy costs in households' choices of home appliances and light bulbs. Using in-home visits, we collect detailed information on the energy efficiency of the participants' current energy-consuming household durables. Our intervention exploits these unique data to provide treated households with customized information about the potential of monetary savings from the adoption of new, comparable and efficient, durables.
We find a substantial information treatment effect on both the energy efficiency of the newly purchased durables and the intensity of utilization of current home appliances. Further, the results show that households respond to the customized intervention more when, ex-ante, there is greater potential of savings, and that the information treatment induced the purchase of appliances with lower total lifetime costs. These findings suggest that individuals are not fully informed about or pay attention to energy costs when purchasing and utilizing energy-consuming household durables, and have important policy implications.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Boogen, Nina et al. 2020. "Can Information about Energy Costs Affect Consumers Choices? Evidence from a Field Experiment." AEA RCT Registry. July 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6145-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2018-02-01
Intervention End Date
2019-02-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
probability of purchase of new energy-consuming durables, level of energy efficiency of the newly purchased durables (conditional on the purchase decision), intensity of utilization
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Two Swiss utilities agreed to provide the contacts of 40,000 households, randomly selected among their customers, to take part to the experiment. These customers were randomly allocated between the treatment (29,000 households) and the control group (11,000 households).
Between April and September 2017, the households allocated to the treatment received an invitation to take a baseline survey. The participation requirements are two: (i) the household should have moved into her current residence before 1.1.2017; (ii) the customer number entered for identification purposes should refer to the principal residence. At the end of the survey, the participants have been offered to receive a free in-home visit to then obtain information about the energy efficiency of their major home appliances and lighting.
We contacted these households to schedule an appointment for the in-home visit between October 2017 and January 2018. We sent a customized report to each household in the treatment group by regular mail. In February 2019, we carried out a follow-up survey asking participants in the treatment group about their purchase decisions in the previous year.
No customer of the utilities allocated to the control group was contacted with reference to the research project in 2017. In the fall of 2018, the same recruitment process was implemented for the customers in the control group: they received an invitation letter to take the same baseline survey followed by an invitation to receive the in-home visit. The same participation requirements used for the treatment group were set for the control group. During the in-home visit, participants in the control group were also asked about the decisions of purchase of energy-consuming durables taken in the previous year.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization carried out by the partner utilities in office by computer
Randomization Unit
Randomization at individual level, within the target group of each utility
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
40000
Sample size: planned number of observations
40000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
29000 in treatment group, 11000 in control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials