Bright Ideas? How context and place matter for energy savings in urban India

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May 26, 2025

Energy is a critical resource that we make decisions about on a daily basis. Think about turning off the lights before going to bed, or switching off appliances after use. Improved access to energy has been a crucial stepping stone toward the economic and social well-being of humanity, leading to a global upgrade in our living standards. However, unsustainable energy consumption becomes a significant cause of environmental pollution worldwide, especially in India, where access to electricity has grown from only 60% to nearly 100% in the last two decades alone. This begs the question: how can individuals contribute to reducing their own usage? 

Behavioral scientists have already attempted to design interventions that tackle the issue of energy overconsumption. One prominent approach is information-based solutions, such as feedback provision and goal setting, that nudge households to reduce their reliance. This class of interventions is highly dependent on providing timely and context-specific information about an individual's consumption. However, the way in which information is presented—whether that be a straightforward text with percentages or a funny meme—is pivotal in determining our response. What’s more is that our perception of interventions is subject to cognitive biases, leading to unexpected reactions across different contexts. 

We also currently don’t know much about how the placement of messages plays a role in encouraging energy-saving behaviors. Previous work in this domain suggests that energy-related interventions are especially effective when implemented in a way that minimizes the time, money, and effort required for individuals to respond to an intervention. Part of this comes from carefully altering the placement of intervention material, so that it is timely and salient for the decision-maker. Creating a reminder system for day-to-day activities to turn off appliances when not in use can help instill sustainable practices within homes—but only if they are timely (as the “T” from Sunstein’s FEAST framework suggests). For instance, imagine being cuddled up with your favorite book late into the night, only to receive a text reminder to turn off the lights in another room. Identifying which room, along with actually extracting yourself from your comfortable position, takes additional cognitive and physical effort, which decision-makers typically resist putting in. 

In sum, while it’s clear that reminders are critical, we don’t often know how and when to deliver them to activate desired behaviors. This leaves us wondering, What kind of reminders work best to get us to put effort into turning off the lights? Should the reminder come before we’re already settled in another room, or when we are just about to leave the room? 

Today, we’ll explore how the placement of interventions within decision environments is essential for nudging pro-environmental behaviors through a pilot study conducted among households in Pune city. Our study suggests that putting up posters inside the home, at places where it is easy for a resident to turn off a running appliance like air conditioners, is most effective at promoting energy-saving behavior.

Energy Consumption in India

According to the India Energy Outlook in 2021, 80% of India’s energy needs are met by conventional energy sources, such as coal and oil. Households are the second-highest consumers of electricity after industry. Pune, the second-largest city in the state of Maharashtra, is home to numerous technology companies and educational institutions—and yet families are still major consumers, contributing about 450,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year. As a typical Punekar sees summers that reach 40°C or 104°F, getting households to turn off their air conditioners and other appliances may be challenging. This makes energy conservation a significant issue for its over seven million inhabitants who are jostling to keep themselves comfortable, therefore increasing demand pressures on the local power grid. 
The good news is that households, while consuming such a large share of electricity, also have the capacity to engage in sustainable practices and minimize energy consumption. A policy that targets the day-to-day activities of families to help them reduce energy wastage has the potential to promote eco-friendly habits, leading to a greener city overall.

About the Authors

Anirudh Tagat

Anirudh Tagat is a Research Author at the Department of Economics, Monk Prayogshala, Mumbai. Anirudh holds a joint PhD in economics from the IIT Bombay and Monash University Research Academy and an MSc in Economics from the University of Warwick. He has previously worked with the Internet Society, CIIE.CO, the World Resources Institute (WRI) India, and the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA). Anirudh is also visiting faculty in economics at NMIMS’ Jyoti Dalal School of Liberal Arts and the Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics. Anirudh’s work has been published in the Review of Development Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of South Asian Development, and has been awarded grant funding from the Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP), National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), and The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie). He is currently Deputy Editor at South Asia Research and part of the Management Committee at the Unjournal. His research interests include economics of the Internet, cross-cultural differences in intra-household bargaining, and experimental economics.

Poorva Kulkarni

Poorva Kulkarni is a market research professional with a Master's in Economics from the Symbiosis School of Economics, Pune, and works in qualitative insights and behavioral economics. She currently works as a Research Executive at MarketVistas Consumer Insights, India.

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