The Effect of Goal-Setting and Daily Electronic Feedback on In-Home Energy Use

Goal-setting in conjunction with feedback on the degree of goal attainment can assist consumers in monitoring and, thus, reducing or stabilizing their in-home energy use. A field experiment compared the effects of daily electronic feedback with monthly external feedback and with self-monitoring of energy use. With daily feedback, a 12.3 percent reduction in natural gas use was achieved, more than in the other conditions and more than the stated 10 percent conservation goal. One year after the experiment, energy use remained reduced relative to the baseline in all groups; however, differences between the experimental conditions were no longer significant. Copyright 1989 by the University of Chicago.