One thing leads to another: Evidence on the scope and persistence of behavioral spillovers

87 Pages Posted: 20 Sep 2021 Last revised: 26 Oct 2022

See all articles by Alexander Goetz

Alexander Goetz

Swiss National Bank; ETH Zürich - KOF Swiss Economic Institute

Harald Mayr

University of Zurich - Department of Economics

Renate Schubert

ETH Zürich - Center for Economic Research; Future Resilient Systems

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: October 25, 2022

Abstract

Evaluations of economic interventions usually focus on one target behavior. This study extends the evaluation scope to multiple untargeted behaviors. We evaluate a hot water saving intervention in a natural field experiment. Despite an exclusive focus on hot water, the intervention changes multiple behaviors. We find a 5.6 percent reduction in room heating energy consumption that persists one year after the intervention. In addition, households save cold water for dishwasher use and toilet flushing several months after the intervention. The remarkable persistence of these spillover effects is consistent with a mechanism of cognitive dissonance, where behavior change reinforces future behavior change. We show that the room heating spillover has important welfare implications. The intervention does not improve welfare when only the target effect on hot water is considered. Taking the spillover on room heating into account, the welfare effect of the intervention turns decisively positive.

Keywords: Behavioral spillover, randomized controlled trial, water consumption, energy consumption, welfare

JEL Classification: C93, D12, Q50

Suggested Citation

Goetz, Alexander and Mayr, Harald and Schubert, Renate, One thing leads to another: Evidence on the scope and persistence of behavioral spillovers (October 25, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3919454 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3919454

Alexander Goetz

Swiss National Bank ( email )

Research
Fraumuensterstr. 8
Zuerich, 8022
Switzerland

ETH Zürich - KOF Swiss Economic Institute ( email )

Zurich
Switzerland

Harald Mayr (Contact Author)

University of Zurich - Department of Economics ( email )

Zürich
Switzerland

Renate Schubert

ETH Zürich - Center for Economic Research ( email )

Weinbergstr. 35
Zurich 8092
Switzerland

Future Resilient Systems ( email )

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