In Italian we could call it “kind push”. It is the strategy that helps make choices potentially capable of positively influencing well beyond the people who make them but also on the world around them. And with an advantage for the environment.
If you don’t believe it, try rereading the study published in Journal of Environmental Economics and Management and led by the researcher CMCC Jacopo Bonan. The research shows that the nudge, or a behavioral intervention based on personalized information, can encourage families to reduce not only water consumption, but also that of electricity. As? Thanks to a simple and cheap tailor -made report.
What the research shows
The study shows that the nudge for water saving has reduced domestic water consumption of 2.4% in two years. The “nudge” on the water also reduced the use of electricity of 1.7%, showing that small behavioral interventions can influence more resources. Combined with further “nudge”, the water consumption fell by 1.4% and that of electricity of 0.5% in two years.
The families who received the report on the water showed a lower propensity to cancel the supply contracts (-2.8% for gas, -3% for electricity), highlighting an added value also for companies. The effects have remained for two years, demonstrating the durability of behavioral change.
The research was based on a two -year -old randomized controlled experiment, conducted in collaboration with an Italian multiutility company. Families received personalized reports that compared their water consumption with those of the neighbors, accompanied by suggestions to save water. The results are interesting: the families who received the report reduced water consumption of 1.4% and those of electricity of 0.5%. Even more relevant, for those who have received only the water report (without other “nudge”), the reduction was 2.4% for water and 1.7% for electricity. In addition to promoting more sustainable behaviors, the intervention has also improved the loyalty of customers: the disdain of gas contracts decreased by 2.8% and those of the electricity of 3%.
It should not be exaggerated
The study, as reported by the CMCC, also highlights an important limit: when families have simultaneously received more “nudge” (for water, electricity and gas), the overall efficacy of each intervention has decreased. According to the authors, an overload of behavioral messages can saturate the limited attention of people and reduce their ability to act.
“In recent years, the use of behavioral interventions to promote pro-environmental actions has grown significantly and our research contributes to this expanding vein”
Bonan explains.
“However, although behavioral interventions are attractive for their cost-benefit ratio, alone they cannot guide the profound systemic changes necessary to achieve the climatic objectives. The most ambitious policies that remodel the incentives are essential”.
In any case, the research offers valuable ideas for the design of effective interventions, based on behavioral sciences, able to help families save money, reduce environmental imprint and strengthen the strategies of businesses.
The nudge in food choices
It is not the first time that the world of consumption has tried to evaluate the impact of the “kind push” on the choices. Some time ago a research appeared on Appetitereported the results of a study based on the value of the nudge as part of the identification and purchase of food products that provide for the supermarket counter in their path, a particular attention to the welfare of animals.
The research was carried out by experts from the University of Bonn and the Polytechnic of Munich. The strategy was proposed in a virtual supermarket, also to see how and how much the choice of products that are produced in full respect of animal health could be implemented. In fact, this choice is difficult to pass beyond what has now been created as a niche of consumers.
Research has proposed precisely this goal. The researchers used two digital supermarkets in the form of 3D simulations with graphics based on modern video games. Customers saw the shelves in the first person and were able to take and examine the products from all sides, insert them in the cart and finally buy them. The researchers divided the test subjects into two groups. A group was asked to shop in a conventional supermarket, while the other group visited a supermarket that offered Nudge techniques., As an animal footprints that led to products with particular attention to the well -being of animals such as meat, milk and eggs offered in specific areas.
Result: thanks to this and other strategies, the Nudging group has selected on average products for the well -being of animals almost double compared to the control group. ATTENTION: We are always in a virtual world. And it should not be forgotten that in the choices the variable price appears to be of great importance.
