Field experimental evidence of how social relations shape behavior that promotes energy conservation

Energy demand-side management is essential for deep decarbonization. However, while we target people as discrete and isolated individuals, we ignore the fact that energy consumption occurs in intricate webs of pre-existing social relations. This study examines an emergency demand response (EDR) program in China involving more than 180,000 households based on relations with family members, communities, and identity. The results indicate that the existence of social relations can promote energy conservation behavior and there is a large degree of heterogeneity. Targeted relations, such as single-living residents, small-scale households, city dweller etc., show greater electricity savings with 12.35% increase in overall effect, which benefit when demographics change in the next few decades. Such heterogeneous changes put forward the pressing need for policymakers to focus on social relations as a unit in future intervention designs to decarbonize the energy system.