Effect of Comparative Feedback on Consumers’ Energy-Saving Behavior: A College Dormitory Example

Comparative feedback is a focus on existing research, while studies on the psychological mechanisms of its effect on consumers’ energy-saving behavior remain lacking. This article considers that the social comparison orientation of feedback has a significant impact on consumers’ energy-saving behavior and intention through a mediated moderation mechanism. A field experiment of 2 (comparison orientation: upward comparison, downward comparison) × 2 (self-construal: independent self-construal, interdependent self-construal) between-subjects design with taking college student dormitories as the sample shows that consumers can experience higher psychological reactance when they receive energy consumption information through upward comparison than when they do so through downward comparison. The partly negative mediating role of psychological reactance is moderated by self-construal. In the context of independent self-construal, comparative feedback stimulates individual's psychological reactance to the intention to reduce energy-saving, while in the context of interdependent self-construal, it does not. This article has reference value for developing accurate feedback strategies for different types of energy consumers.