Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Title: The Dynamics of Goal Setting: Evidence From a Field Experiment on Resource Conservation
Author-Name: Lorenz Goette
Author-Email: lorenz.goette@uni-bonn.de
Author-Name: Hua-Jing Han
Author-Email: han@uni-bonn.de
Author-Name: Zhi Hao Lim
Author-Email: ecslzh@nus.edu.sg

Classification-JEL: C93, Q41, D91
Keywords: field experiment, goal setting, resource conservation

Abstract: In a field experiment at two residential colleges, we use moral suasion and
real-time feedback to examine how residents respond to different goals on
shower water use over time. In phase 1 of our intervention, we find significant
conservation effects for residents assigned to either the hard or moderate
goal, but surprisingly detect no significant differences between both groups.
When the goals are adjusted to a common, intermediate level in phase 2, we
see a divergence in average treatment effects, driven by underperformance of
the group with the initial hard goal. Interestingly, we find that high baseline
users in the moderate goal group display larger conservation effects throughout
the intervention, but this pattern is not observed in their counterparts with
the initial hard goal. Our results suggest that setting too hard a goal can
permanently diminish motivation, and adjusting the goal does not undo the
initial damage.

Note: 
Length: 39
Creation-Date: 2021-04
Revision-Date: 
File-URL: https://www.crctr224.de/research/discussion-papers/archive/dp283
File-Format: application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:bon:boncrc:CRCTR224_2021_283