Physical water scarcity is a growing threat to people’s lives around the world. Non-pecuniary interventions that encourage water conservation amongst households are an effective tool to promote sustainable consumption. In a randomised field experiment on 3461 UK households, a social norms based eco-feedback intervention was found to reduce water consumption by around 5.43 L a day or by 1.8% over 29 months. This effect did not persist for the 10 months after the intervention was stopped suggesting a lack of habit formation. Unlike previous studies, households with low consumption at baseline reduced their consumption the most, while high consumers did not. Heterogeneity was also found across quantile treatment effects, where households in the top and bottom quantiles increased their consumption. These results further contribute to the growing evidence on the effectiveness of combining social norms and eco-feedback as an intervention for conservation.

中文翻译：

---

基于社会规范的家庭用水生态反馈

物理上的水资源短缺正在日益威胁着世界各地人们的生活。鼓励家庭中节水的非金钱干预是促进可持续消费的有效工具。在对3461个英国家庭进行的随机田间试验中，发现基于社会规范的生态反馈干预措施可以每天减少约5.43 L的水消耗，或在29个月内减少1.8％的水消耗。在停止干预后的10个月中，这种效果并未持续，这表明缺乏养成习惯。与以前的研究不同，基线时低消费的家庭减少的消费最多，而高消费的家庭则没有。在分位数处理的影响中也发现了异质性，最高分位数和最低分位数的家庭增加了消费量。