Beyond “one-size-fits-all” platforms: Applying Campbell's paradigm to test personalized energy advice in the Netherlands

When analyzing ways in which people save energy, most researchers and policy makers conceptually differentiate between curtailment (e.g. unplugging chargers) and efficiency measures (e.g. installing PV cells). However, such a two-dimensional approach is suboptimal from both a conceptual and policy perspective, as it does not consider individual differences that determine energy-saving behavior. We propose a different, one-dimensional approach, applying Campbell's Paradigm through the Rasch model, in which both curtailment and efficiency measures are intermixed on a single scale and ordered according to their behavioral costs. By matching these behavioral costs to individual energy-saving attitudes, we investigate to what extent attitude-tailored energy-saving advice can help consumers to save energy. We present the results of two studies. The first study (N = 263) reliably calibrated a one-dimensional Rasch scale that consists of 79 energy-saving measures, suitable for advice. The second study employed this scale to investigate how users (N = 196) evaluate attitude-tailored energy-saving advice in a web-based energy recommender system. Results indicate that Rasch-based recommendations can be used to effectively tailor energy-saving advice and that such attitude-tailored advice is more adequate than a number of non-personalized approaches.