How political identity changes response to energy conservation feedback by 200%

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time; reducing energy consumption is a key way to mitigate it. While many regions, like Scandinavia, have been quick to levy significant taxes on energy consumption, there has been a political gridlock surrounding such policies between “liberals” and “conservatives” in the United States. Many researchers have suggested nudges can help overcome this gridlock. In California, the energy provider OPOWER started sending a Home Energy Report (HER) to those in the upper percentile of energy consumption in their neighborhood, comparing their energy usage to their neighbors.

But how effective are such nudges at mitigating energy consumption? Dora L. Costa and Matthew E. Kahn argue that a nudge’s effectiveness depends on the individuals’ political ideology. Their data suggests that California’s HER policy was two to four more times more effective on liberals than it was on conservatives. The researchers argue that, consequently, policy makers should individualize nudges, based on their population’s political ideology, to maximize the nudge’s effectiveness at mitigating energy consumption.