Narrowing the energy efficiency gap: The impact of educational programs, online support tools and energy-related investment literacy
Additional information
Authors
Blasch J.,
Filippini M.,
Kumar N.,
Martinez-Cruz A.
Type
Working paper
Year
2017
Language
English
Abstract
There is evidence that many individuals make suboptimal investment decisions when the
benefits and costs associated with that decision are distributed over time. One example is
the decision to adopt new electrical appliances, with the benefits of choosing a more energyefficient
device materializing only in the future. This paper analyses the impact of the level of
an individual’s energy-related investment literacy on the adoption of energy-efficient appliances.
Moreover, the empirical analysis explores the impact of decision support tools such as educational
slides on the probability that individuals identify the appliance with the lowest lifetime cost,
which is ideally also the most energy-efficient appliance. To test the influence of these decision
support tools, we developed an online randomized controlled trial and implemented it on two
independently chosen samples of the Swiss population. One treatment offers a short education
program on how to calculate the lifetime cost of an appliance – via a set of information slides.
The second intervention provides access to an online calculator that supports the investment
decision-making of the individual. Results across the two samples are encouraging. We find that
i) pre-treatment energy and investment literacy positively impact on the probability of identifying
the appliance with the lowest lifetime cost; ii) the reinforcement of energy-related investment
literacy increases the rate at which individuals identify the appliance with the lowest lifetime
cost; and iii) while both interventions are effective in increasing the chances that an appliance
with the lower lifetime cost is chosen, the online calculator turned out to be more effective than
the educational program. Public policy implications are discussed.
Number
17/276
Series
Economics Working Paper Series
