Touchpoints and behavioural mechanisms : Strengthening energy conservation in the residential sector

Policymakers are leveraging the use of behavioural insights (BI) to tackle a myriad of demand-side management issues among consumers, including using BI to encourage energy conservation behaviour among consumers in the residential sector (BIECR). But apart from a few large-scale policies, many BI interventions are stuck in the trial phase - because while they generate statistical evidence through small scale randomised controlled trials, they are not able to pinpoint the underlying behavioural mechanisms that help develop persistent and scalable policy measures. One aspect of human behaviour are the touchpoints – the part of the user experience journey that is key to performing a behaviour. Touchpoints also form the necessary interface through which policymakers interact with energy consumers to encourage energy conservation behaviour. This research analyses the relationship between energy consumers and touchpoints; it then offers suggestions through which this relationship can be strengthened by developing the mechanisms that underlie persistent and scalable BI policies. Using several case studies analyses and expert interviews, this research draws out generalisations from the relationship between human and touchpoints that are relevant to BIECR. It showcases three mechanisms that could be strongly leveraged from touchpoints by policymakers: the consumers' perception of the touchpoint, a sense of ownership, and the ability to close the cue-action-reward loop. This research also highlights how archival research can feed practical observation back to theory; this would be key to drawing generalisations across cases, and developing strong mechanistic evidence for BI policies in specific sectors