Massimo and Giacomo just presented some of the first results of our research at a workshop in Varese on last Sep. 24th, organised by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission and dedicated to good practices on information campaigns targeting behaviour change with a special focus on cost-effectiveness.
The study we brought focuses on real time feedback on electricity consumption, based on Enel data. After the installation of in-home displays providing such information, we actually see a potential reduction of 2-4% in average consumption attributable to the display, estimate which slightly varies depending on the model and subsample considered. No significant average net effect was instead observed in terms of frequency of recurring daily patterns of consumption before and after the display activation.
Besides the very interesting discussions with the panel of participating experts on the principles and innovative ways and means to engage individual consumers and SMEs, we were positively impressed by the presentation held by Beth Karlin from University of California Irvine on the role of new media in promoting behaviour change. Have a look at Beth’s presentation, or you can rather browse through all the presentations on the webpage dedicated to the workshop.