Behavioral Water Efficiency

descriptive NORMS

The most effective approach to drive persistent behavior change is the use of descriptive social norms. By comparing water consumption patterns to similar households, people become more efficient to adjust to what is perceived as “normal.”

INJUNCTIVE NORMS

Using descriptive norms may cause individuals who consume less water than the norm to start using more. Injunctive norms counteract this effect by showing efficient homes that they are doing a great job and should keep up the good work.

REFERENCE GROUPS

Social norms are most effective when the individual identifies with the group to which she is being compared. We carefully divide up residential water customers into groups with similar attributes, so their comparisons are as relevant as possible.

DATA CREDIBILITY

If people don’t believe your data they’ll probably ignore the recommendations. This is why we obsess over data quality, analysis, and presentation.

DEFAULT OPTIONS

You can harness the power of default options by automatically enrolling residents in the WaterSmart program. What’s easier than going with the flow?