Who responds to intermittent energy nudges? Heterogeneity by socioeconomic status and female education in Armenia
Year: 2026
Type: report
Abstract: Using a long-term randomized field experiment in Yerevan, Armenia, we study heterogeneous household responses to behavioural energy reports in a post-Soviet transition-economy setting. Households were assigned to a control group, a consumption-comparison report arm, or a consumption-plus-cost report arm that added monetary bill information to the same peer comparisons. Reports were sent monthly during two report-delivery periods separated by a prolonged pause. Average treatment effects mask substantial heterogeneity by socioeconomic status (SES), female education, baseline electricity use, and electric heating. High-SES households respond differently to the added monetary information than low-SES households, while households with a tertiary-educated female respondent exhibit more conservation-oriented responses. Both patterns are clearest during report-delivery months under the consumption-plus-cost reports. Households using electricity for heating show strong conservation-oriented responses, whereas low-baseline users can exhibit boomerang-type increases under consumption-plus-cost reporting. Responses during pause months also differ across groups, implying that intermittent reporting is not uniformly beneficial but depends on subgroup targeting and report content.
Author: Sargsyan, Y.
Institution: Charles University
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Univerzita Karlova v Praze
OpenAlex ID: W7212463121