Goals, Incentives, and Information in Water Conservation

Last registered on April 12, 2022

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Goals, Incentives, and Information in Water Conservation

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0009028

Initial registration date

April 07, 2022

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

April 12, 2022, 8:14 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Australia

Region

Victoria

Primary Investigator

Name

David Byrne

Affiliation

University of Melbourne

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Lorenz Goette

PI Affiliation

National University of Singapore

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2022-02-02

End date

2022-05-29

Keywords

Environment & Energy

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

C93, D83, Q25

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

Ensuring sustainable water usage is an ever-pressing concern for Australia and internationally for counties like Singapore. By partnering with a water utility, this project aims to combine large scale field experiments, machine learning, and data from smart devices that provide real-time feedback. This new knowledge will underpin the empirical development of new behavioural economic models (habit, beliefs formation, and reference-dependent decision making with rational inattention). These models will be able to be immediately deployed, informing policies designed to promote water conservation, encourage efficient water network investment, and help households anticipate and reduce water costs, particularly among disadvantaged groups.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Byrne, David and Lorenz Goette. 2022. "Goals, Incentives, and Information in Water Conservation." AEA RCT Registry. April 12. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9028-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The experiment examples how goals, information, and incentives provided through GreenBe’s Water Savers mobile app influences water usage. We experimentally manipulate the design of weekly Water Savers Challenges on the mobile app to gain such behavioral insights.

Intervention Start Date

2022-02-27

Intervention End Date

2022-05-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Household water usage at the individual level measured within 30-minute intervals from smart water meters.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

2 x 2 experimental design that considers combinations of {high incentives for meeting goals, low incentives for meeting goals} x {easy water usage reduction goals, hard water usage reduction goals}

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization was done in the office by a computer

Randomization Unit

Household

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

500 households

Sample size: planned number of observations

2,688,000 half-hourly water usage levels at the individual level (500 households x 16 weeks x 7 days/week x 48 intervals/day)

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

100 households control, 100 households in one of 4 different experimental conditions that have 2 x 2 combinations of {high incentives, low incentives} x {easy goals, hard goals}

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

The minimum detectable effect size of 3% reduction of off baseline (within the household) daily water usage. The standard deviation of daily water usage is 500 L per day.

Supporting Documents and Materials

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

IRB