Public Media Campaign and Energy Conservation: A Natural Experiment in Singapore

Abstract

Singapore uses public media campaigns to motivate public housing residents to conserve energy as part of its strategies to achieve sustainable energy goals. Using the energy conservation campaign conducted in selected housing estates in Singapore in January 2016, we ran a natural experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of the public campaign in nudging residents to save energy. Using a difference-in-differences (DID) design, we find an average saving of 0.4% in electricity consumption by residents in public housing blocks within 1.0-kilometer (km) of the campaign (treatment) zones compared to those outside 1.0 km. The interventions persisted through the post-intervention period. Using the cost-benefit analysis, we estimate approximately S$350,000 in welfare gains from this intervention program.

Keywords: Energy Sustainability, Energy conservation, Media Campaign, Public Housing, Behavioral Intervention

JEL Classification: D1, D4, R2, R3