@article{liebe2021persistent,
author = {Ulf Liebe and Jennifer Gewinner and Andreas Diekmann},
doi = {10.1038/s41562-021-01070-3},
issn = {23973374},
issue = {5},
journal = {Nature Human Behaviour},
title = {Large and persistent effects of green energy defaults in the household and business sectors},
volume = {5},
year = {2021},
url={https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-021-01070-3},
urldate={2022-12-15},
abstract = {Non-monetary incentives that encourage pro-environmental behaviour can contribute to combating climate change. Here, we investigated the effect of green energy defaults in the household and business sectors. In two large-scale field studies in Switzerland of over 200,000 households and 8,000 enterprises, we found that presenting renewable energy to existing customers as the standard option led to around 80\% of the household and business sector customers staying with the green default, and the effects were largely stable over a time span of at least four years. Electricity consumption had only a weak effect on default acceptance. Our data do not indicate moral licensing: accepting the green default did not lead to a disproportionate increase in electricity consumption. Compared with men, women in both the household and business sectors were slightly more likely to accept the green default. Overall, non-monetary incentives can be highly effective in both the household and business sectors.},
}