Social Influence and Energy Conservation: Using Obedience to Authority to Promote Air Conditioning Energy Saving

The present study applies social influence to promote energy conservation. Specifically, we examined the effect of obedience to authority on persuading users of air conditioners (AC) to set higher temperatures. Sixty eight students participated in the study and were divided randomly into two equal groups: control and experimental groups. They were asked to turn on an AC and set a temperature. In order to activate the tendency to obey authority, participants in the treatment group were told that a government regulation encouraged people to set their AC temperature at 25 °C prior to turning on the appliance. Results indicate that there was a significant difference in the temperature set by the treatment group (M = 24.06 °C, SD = 2.45) and the control group (M = 21.35 °C, SD = 2.77), t(66) = 4.265, p < 0.001. The finding suggests that, when obedience to authority was triggered, participants in the obedience group set higher AC temperatures in accordance with the message than those in the control group.