Optimal message framing for buy-in to energy reduction program

Heating and cooling large buildings make up a significant portion of overall energy use in the United States, but replacing the whole system may be financially infeasible. As a result, some organizations are implementing energy-reduction programs in their large buildings by making HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) systems more efficient. Options include turning off appliances when not in use, allowing the temperature to be warmer or cooler (depending on the outside weather) when the room isn't occupied, and recommending that occupants dress adaptively to the seasons to require less heating or cooling energy. These strategies typically require significant buy-in from the building occupants. This study investigated which types of messaging, specifically moral norms or descriptive social norms, would encourage participants to adopt energy saving behaviors in order to reduce energy use in a large building.

The researchers explored two main types of energy conservation messages: (1) the moral norms message, which spoke to a person's sense of moral obligation to reduce energy, and (2) the descriptive social norms message, which emphasized that most people in the building support the energy-reducing changes. The researchers believed that these messages may appeal to different values, which might result in one message being more effective than another. Participants were asked about four types of values: (1) “self-transcendent,” or importance of protecting the environment; (2) “self-enhancement,” or value of success and wealth; (3) “personal moral norms,” or one's sense of moral duty to use less energy; and (4) “descriptive norms perceptions,” or one's belief that those around them are trying to use less energy.

The researchers surveyed employees in a large building on a Southeastern United States university campus. A pilot program installed sensors in rooms that reduced the temperature when the room was unoccupied. Participants were building occupants that volunteered to take the survey. Three surveys were administered before and during the pilot program; two surveys were administered before the pilot started, and the third was administered during the pilot period. In the second and third surveys, the researchers assigned participants to receive either to a moral norms message or to a descriptive social norms message. The questionnaire also asked about participants' motivations to take pro-environmental behaviors. A total of 27 participants filled out all three surveys, and the data were analyzed using statistics.

The researchers found that this pilot program resulted in a 37% energy savings in the building. When comparing the two groups that received different energy conservation messaging, the researchers found no difference in the participants' willingness to dress differently. Even though this difference did not exist, the researchers believe that the moral norms message is more effective, given that participants who received this message were less likely to complain.

The authors found that self-transcendent values were in line with personal moral norms. In other words, participants were more likely to feel moral responsibility towards energy reduction and the program as a whole if they felt it was important to protect the environment. The researchers also found that those displaying positive personal moral norms were willing to dress differently to support the change, but this had no relationship with complaining tendency. Those with high descriptive norms perceptions, or the belief that those around them supported the program, were likely to complain about the program.

The results may not be generalizable to other buildings and locations because the occupants were predominantly highly educated and female—two demographics that research has indicated are more likely to behave pro-environmentally. The small number of participants could have had an effect on the results; a larger study in additional locations may produce different results.

The researchers recommend that organizations appeal to concern for the environment in order to generate buy-in for programs seeking to encourage behavior change. In this study, messaging to building occupants around having a moral responsibility to the environment produced fewer complaints. Moral responsibility messaging may be effective for similar programs to seeking to encourage individual pro-environmental behavior change.