Like me or near me? Assessing which norm referents best promote energy conservation in the field

Messages about what others typically do (descriptive social norms) are increasingly used to encourage sustainable behaviors. The effectiveness of social norm interventions hinges on selecting an appropriate referent group. However, it is unclear which characteristics make a norm referent more effective. In a field experiment on energy conservation, in a non-WEIRD and under-studied setting, we examine the role of two referent characteristics: group identification and physical proximity. Students in university dorms (N = 584) were randomly assigned to a control group or to one of two treatment groups, in which they were given social norm information that varied only in whether it was about a group with whom they were likely to identify (students at their university) or a physically proximal group with whom they identify less (students in their dorm building). Tracking electricity meter reading data in the weeks before and after the intervention, we found that social norm information about a high identification group led to an 11 percent reduction in energy consumption relative to a control group. The physical proximity condition did not lead to overall reductions in energy use, although the intervention effect was moderated by identification with their building. We conclude that identification with a group is important for the efficacy of social norms interventions in this setting, and that physical proximity alone may be insufficient for an effective norm referent group.