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The Power to Conserve: A Field Experiment on Electricity Use in Qatar

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Listed:
  • Omar Al-Ubaydli
  • Alecia W. Cassidy
  • Anomitro Chatterjee
  • Ahmed Khalifa
  • Michael K. Price

Abstract

High resource users often have the strongest response to behavioral interventions promoting conservation. Yet, litlle is known about how to motivate them. We implement a field experiment in Qatar, where residential customers have some of the highest energy use per capita in the world. Our dataset consists of 207,325 monthly electricity meter readings from a panel of 6,096 customers. We employ two normative treatments priming identity - a religious message quoting the Qur’an, and a national message reminding households that Qatar prioritizes energy conservation. The treatments reduce electricity use by 3.8% and both messages are equally effective. Using machine learning methods on supplemental survey data, we elucidate how agency, motivation, and responsibility activate conservation responses to our identity primes.

Suggested Citation

  • Omar Al-Ubaydli & Alecia W. Cassidy & Anomitro Chatterjee & Ahmed Khalifa & Michael K. Price, 2023. "The Power to Conserve: A Field Experiment on Electricity Use in Qatar," NBER Working Papers 31931, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31931
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    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General
    • Q4 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy

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