ENRGISED: ENgaging Residents in Green energy Investments through Social networks, ComplExity and Design)

Currently, there are 7 million household gas connections in the Netherlands. By 2050 these all must have changed to an alternative energy source. However, there seems to be an impasse where householders are waiting for others such as housing corporations or municipalities to make decisions for them. People are waiting because they do not know how to change; they are waiting because they cannot see benefits in home comfort or finances. They are waiting because of the inconvenience that comes with change, and importantly, they do not see the urgency – they believe other and better or cheaper alternatives will be available in the future. To break this impasse, we propose to use social contagion. To be able to reach and activate a large audience without having to reach everyone individually.

In the research project ENRGISED we explored the use of social contagion towards the energy transition. We devised a three-stage strategy for the energy transition, based on social contagion theory: identify, activate and accelerate.

When people have to make decisions they are strongly influenced by decisions and (in)action of others. People have the tendency to imitate behaviours of others who are either in their vicinity (belong to similar social groups), or whom they aspire to be. A decision or behaviour is not only determined by the person’s needs, attitudes and expectations but also influenced, reinforced or weakened by the social context. Therefore, it is hard (if not impossible) to target behaviour change at the individual level, in isolation from the social context. This interdependency in decision making can create a situation where it often only makes sense for one actor to act if several others have already chosen to act. In the energy transition, the interdependency in decision-making has led to the present impasse where everyone waits for others to adopt an alternative sustainable energy source, and consequently, nothing happens. However, this interdependency can also be used positively, where social influence (social contagion) can be a means of scaling up the desirability, acceptance and adoption of greener energy alternatives. We devised a three stage strategy towards positively influencing the energy transition at a neighbourhood level.