Comparing Groups Motivates Behavior
Research has shown that comparing people to others in their same group--called intragroup comparisons--can motivate engagement in sustainable behavior. For example, in a recent study, researchers told hotel guests that former occupants of the same room had conserved water by not sending towels to be washed daily. This comparison with guests in the same room served as an intragroup comparison, and it influenced the current occupants' towel use, causing them to also cut back on towel washing.