The Triple Bottom Line Blog

The notion, discussed here recently, that automated, easy-to-understand metrics are one key to sustainable consumption seems to be gaining traction. One straw in the wind: this article in the New York Times, which references a new book, Nudge, by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago.

The book is about how well-chosen, readily accessible pieces of information can be more effective than either financial incentives or government regulation in encouraging smarter consumer behavior. A key passage from the Times article:

"Getting the prices right will not create the right behavior if people do not associate their behavior with the relevant costs," says Dr. Thaler, a professor of behavioral science and economics. "When I turn the thermostat down on my A-C, I only vaguely know how much that costs me. If the thermostat were programmed to tell you immediately how much you are spending, the effect would be much more powerful."

It would be still more powerful, he and Mr. Sunstein suggest, if you knew how your energy consumption compared with the social norm. A study in California showed that when the monthly electric bill listed the average consumption in the neighborhood, the people in above-average households significantly decreased their consumption.

Meanwhile, the people with the below-average bills reacted by significantly increasing their consumption--not exactly the goal of the project.

That reaction was avoided when the bill featured a little drawing along with the numbers: a smiling face on a below-average bill or a frowning face on an above-average bill. After that simple nudge, the heavy users made even bigger cuts in consumption, while the light users remained frugal.

Amazing, isn't it, how subtly powerful even simple-minded devices like smiley faces can be for nudging people in the right direction?

And please don't write in with indignant complaints about "the nanny state" manipulating us. Does anyone really think that smiley faces on our utility bills would outweigh the thousands of pro-consumption messages we absorb every day through television commercials, radio ads, billboards, print ads, and all the rest?

We already have plenty of nannies trying to manipulate us--and they are all sending the same message: "Buy, buy, buy!" A few nannies offering a gentle warning about the long-term dangers of over-consumption won't deprive us of our freedom.

Labels: Cass Sunstein, Climate and Carbon, Nudge, Richard Thaler, Sustainable Consumption