TY - JOUR
T1 - Nudging and citizen science
T2 - The effectiveness of feedback in energy-demand management
AU - Cappa, Francesco
AU - Rosso, Federica
AU - Giustiniano, Luca
AU - Porfiri, Maurizio
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant numbers CBET-1547864 and CMMI-1644828. Francesco Cappa and Federica Rosso would also like to gratefully acknowledge Ermenegildo Zegna that supported their research thanks to the EZ Founder's Scholarship 2017–2018 , 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 . The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Funding Information:
Technological innovations are not the only factors that can play a role in tackling the Grand Challenges; good policy models should also be developed to this end (Fagerberg, 2018). Through recent advancements in information technologies, we highlighted that nudging can be an effective tool to involve individuals toward the achievement of these societal aims by directing people toward better behavior. As part of this trend, the United States started a new, national research team devoted to this topic, called the “Social and Behavioral Science Team” (Obama, 2015), aimed at inducing people to make better decisions. Within this realm, research consortia that foster citizen science can play a critical role, as demonstrated by the integration of citizen science elements in the Transparency and Participation Act in Germany(Kuhlmann and Rip, 2018). The importance of citizen science is also supported by the forum organized by the US White House in 2015, where it was proposed that “members of the public can advance scientific knowledge and benefit society” (Science Europe, 2018). Our study prompts policymakers to favor the simultaneous implementation of nudging and citizen science for addressing the Grand Challenges.This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant numbers CBET-1547864 and CMMI-1644828. Francesco Cappa and Federica Rosso would also like to gratefully acknowledge Ermenegildo Zegna that supported their research thanks to the EZ Founder's Scholarship 2017–2018, 2018–2019 and 2019–2020. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2020/9/1
Y1 - 2020/9/1
N2 - Nudging is a framework for directing individuals toward better behavior, both for personal and societal benefits, through heuristics that drive the decision-making process but without preventing any available choice. Considering the Grand Challenges that our society faces today, nudging represents an effective framework to tackle some of these pressing issues. In this work, we assessed the effectiveness of informational nudges in the form of detailed, customized feedback, within an energy-demand-management project. The project aligns energy production and demand, thereby reducing greenhouse gases and pollutant emissions to mitigate climate change. We also offered evidence that this kind of feedback is efficacious in involving individuals as citizen scientists, who volunteer their efforts toward the success of the environmentally-related aim of the project. The results of this research – based on surveys, electroencephalography measurements and online participation measures – indicate that feedback can be an effective tool to steer participants’ behavior under the libertarian paternalistic view of nudging, increase their motivation to contribute to citizen science, and improve their awareness about environmentally-related issues. In so doing, we provide evidence that nudging and citizen science can be jointly adopted toward the mitigation of pressing environmental issues.
AB - Nudging is a framework for directing individuals toward better behavior, both for personal and societal benefits, through heuristics that drive the decision-making process but without preventing any available choice. Considering the Grand Challenges that our society faces today, nudging represents an effective framework to tackle some of these pressing issues. In this work, we assessed the effectiveness of informational nudges in the form of detailed, customized feedback, within an energy-demand-management project. The project aligns energy production and demand, thereby reducing greenhouse gases and pollutant emissions to mitigate climate change. We also offered evidence that this kind of feedback is efficacious in involving individuals as citizen scientists, who volunteer their efforts toward the success of the environmentally-related aim of the project. The results of this research – based on surveys, electroencephalography measurements and online participation measures – indicate that feedback can be an effective tool to steer participants’ behavior under the libertarian paternalistic view of nudging, increase their motivation to contribute to citizen science, and improve their awareness about environmentally-related issues. In so doing, we provide evidence that nudging and citizen science can be jointly adopted toward the mitigation of pressing environmental issues.
KW - Citizen science
KW - Crowd
KW - Electroencephalography
KW - Energy-demand management
KW - Grand challenges
KW - Nudging
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110759
DO - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110759
M3 - Article
C2 - 32425166
AN - SCOPUS:85084439920
SN - 0301-4797
VL - 269
JO - Journal of Environmental Management
JF - Journal of Environmental Management
M1 - 110759
ER -