The Meaning of Normative Processes for Energy Conservation

Articles
Midden, C. J. & Ritsema, B. S. (1983). The meaning of normative processes for energy conservation. Journal of Economic Psychology, 4, 1-2, 37-55.
A national survey of 1,076 people was conducted in the Netherlands on attitudes, beliefs, norms, intentions, and behavior with respect to energy conservation. The questionnaire wa…

The Constructive, Destructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms

Articles
Schultz P. W., Nolan J. M., Cialdini R. B., Goldstein N. J., Griskevicius Vladas (2007). The Constructive, Destructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms. Psychological Science, 18(5), 429-434.
Despite a long tradition of effectiveness in laboratory tests, normative messages have had mixed success in changing behavior in field contexts, with some studies showing boomeran…

Effective Dissemination of Energy-Related Information: Applying Social Psychology and Evaluation Research

Articles
Dennis, M., Soderstrom, E.J., Koncinski, W.S., Cavanaugh, B. (1990). Effective Dissemination of Energy-Related Information: Applying Social Psychology and Evaluation Research. American Psychologist, 45(10), 1109.
Discusses the limitations of previous energy conservation programs in affecting the behavior of individual consumers. Suggests that the rational-economic model upon which they wer…

Normative Social Influence is Underdetected

Articles
Nolan, J. M., Schultz, P. W., Cialdini, R. B., Goldstein, N. J., Griskevicius V. (2008). Normative Social Influence is Underdetected. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34 (7), 913-923.
The present research investigated the persuasive impact and detectability of normative social influence. The first study surveyed 810 Californians about energy conservation and fo…

Social Norms: An Underestimated and Underemployed Lever for Managing Climate Change

Articles
Griskevicius,V., Cialdini, R.B., and Goldstein, N.J. (2008). Social Norms: An Underestimated and Underemployed Lever for Managing Climate Change. International Journal for Sustainability Communication, 3, 5-13.
It is widely recognized that communications that make social norms salient can be effective in influencing behavior. What is surprising, given the strength of the evidence, is how…

Using Social Norms to Reduce Household Energy Consumption

Cases
Schultz P. W., Nolan J. M., Cialdini R. B., Goldstein N. J., Griskevicius Vladas (2007). The Constructive, Destructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms. Psychological Science, 18(5), 429-434.
Background  In the two projects described below, information was delivered to households in order to foster norms that support reduced electricity consumption.  These projects ma…

Utilizing a Social-Ecological Framework to Promote Water and Energy Conservation: A Field Experiment

Articles
Kurz, T., Donaghue, N., & Walker, I. (2005). Utilizing a social-ecological framework to promote water and energy conservation: A field experiment. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 35(6), 1281-1300.
The present study utilized a social-ecological framework to design an intervention to reduce residential water and energy use in a local community. An experimental design was used…

Twenty Years After Hines, Hungerford, and Tomera: A New Meta-Analysis of psycho-Social Determinants of Pro-Environmental Behaviour

Articles
Bamberg, S., & Möser, G. (2007). Twenty years after Hines, Hungerford, and Tomera: A new meta-analysis of psycho-social determinants of pro-environmental behaviour. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 27(1), 14-25.
The goal of the present paper is a replication as well as an extension of the Hines et al. [(1986/87). Analysis and synthesis of research on responsible environmental behaviour: A…

How Do Socio-demographic and Psychological Factors Relate to Households Direct and Indirect Energy Use and Savings?

Articles
Abrahamse, W. & Steg, L. (2009). How Do Socio-demographic and Psychological Factors Relate to Households Direct and Indirect Energy Use and Savings?. Journal of Economic Psychology, 30, 711-720.
Households constitute an important target group for energy conservation. They not only use energy in a direct way (gas, electricity and fuel) but also in an indirect way (embedded…

Internal and External Influences on Pro-environmental Behavior: Participation in a Green Electricity Program

Articles
Clark, C., Kotchen, M., & Moore, M. (2003). Internal and external influences on pro-environmental behavior: Participation in a green electricity program. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 23(3), 237-246. doi:10.1016/S0272-4944(02)00105-6.
This paper integrates themes from psychology and economics to analyze pro-environmental behavior. Increasingly, both disciplines share an interest in understanding internal and ex…

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