Urban water demand management is key to water supply sustainability in high-density, water-stressed areas throughout the world, and emerging technologies could transform it. In particular, smart metering could allow for conserving water by dynamically changing prices to reflect water scarcity and supply cost variability. Yet, little is known on end-users’ reaction to short-term price changes, an essential determinant of the effectiveness and acceptability of dynamic water pricing. This paper reports on the design and results of an online experiment that measures end-users’ water consumption decisions when confronted with time-varying prices, and investigates the interaction between pricing and water scarcity awareness. We design a series of treatments where players must indicate their shower length given different water prices, price variations, and scarcity scenarios. Beyond corroborating the theory that higher prices lower usage, the experiment finds evidence of a dynamic pricing effect: users respond more strongly to a given price if they have been exposed to a lower price before. This suggests short-term residential price increases could be effective at boosting water conservation.

城市用水需求管理是全球高密度，缺水地区的水供应可持续性的关键，新兴技术可以改变它。特别是，智能计量可以通过动态改变价格以反映水资源短缺和供水成本变化来节约用水。然而，对于最终用户对短期价格变化的反应知之甚少，而短期价格变化是动态水价的有效性和可接受性的重要决定因素。本文报告了在线实验的设计和结果，该实验可测量最终用户在时变价格下的用水决策，并调查定价和缺水意识之间的相互作用。我们设计了一系列处理方法，玩家必须根据不同的水价，价格变化，和稀缺情况。除了证实较高的价格会降低使用量的理论外，该实验还发现了动态定价效应的证据：如果用户以前曾接触过较低的价格，他们会对给定的价格做出更强烈的反应。这表明短期住宅价格上涨可能有效促进节水。