Social norms and energy conservation in China

This paper investigates how social norms influence energy conservation behaviors in China. Through a field experiment, we demonstrate that simply providing social comparison information can lead to significant energy reductions, even when the potential consumption and monetary gains from energy savings are limited. Specifically, energy consumption was reduced by 0.42 kWh, sufficient to meet a household’s daily energy needs for lighting. Our findings further indicate that this conservation effect is only significant for households using convenient payment schemes (quick-pay) via other digital platforms, which only offer monetary costs without other information. Hence, attention and information on energy consumption are relatively lacking for these households. This result reveals the potential mechanism of social norms as a reminder, drawing users’ attention to their energy consumption behaviors. This study offers valuable insights into the application and mechanism of social norms, emphasizing the importance of providing additional reminder information as auto- and quick-pay schemes become more prevalent. • Social norms influence energy conservation behaviors in China. • Social comparison information can reduce energy consumption by 0.42 kWh per day. • The conservation effect is pronounced especially in households using quick-pay schemes. • Social norms serve as a reminder mechanism, drawing attention to energy consumption. • The study highlights the importance of reminder information.