Tailoring Social Comparison Feedback to Context : Environmental Externality Levels and Personal Traits Matter

In the last decade, social comparison feedback has been widely applied to encourage energy and water conservation. Yet, the effectiveness of this intervention varies, which partly depends on contextual factors such as the local environment and culturally-influenced personal traits. In this study, an online laboratory experiment was conducted, based on a modified dictator game in which subjects had to make purchasing decisions that either increased their own payoff, or donate to a certified carbon offset project (recipient) that reduced their individual payoff. Two behavioural interventions were examined, i.e. social comparison feedback, where individuals' own pro-environmental behaviour is compared to the pro-environmental behaviour of others, and tangible emissions feedback, which relates the environmental impacts to daily activity and nature. Our findings show that individuals only respond to social comparison feedback under certain circumstances. The effect of feedback is moderated by whether their behaviour can generate high or low carbon emissions, as well as whether individuals are inclined to conform to specific social norms and compete with others. Compared to standard social comparison feedback, tangible emissions feedback is overall more effective. We highlight the importance of tailoring interventions with social comparison feedback to local environmental and cultural contexts