The Psychology of Motivating Consumers

For energy service providers, consumer engagement around energy-related behaviors is key to achieving important business goals, including energy efficiency and demand response (especially during peak times). Yet with studies showing that people spend an average of six minutes per year thinking about their energy usage, providers face an uphill battle in getting consumers to fully and actively participate in energy management programs.

Tendril views these challenges as opportunities and has performed extensive behavioral science research to discover optimal ways in which energy service providers can successfully engage consumers in existing and future programs.

Consumer engagement around energy-related behaviors is key to achieving important business goals.

Relevant results

Consumers are more likely to participate in energy programs when they can relate to the results. For example, saving 12 cents on your monthly utility bill by installing CFLs is not nearly as interesting as learning that your efforts helped light the top floor of the Empire State Building for an hour. Or, by using a mobile app on their phones, consumers can adjust their programmable thermostats to fire up the furnace right before the kids get home from school.

Tendril has identified specific consumer types (personas) and has designed products and applications (including the Tendril Energize™ application suite) that resonate with those personas. Energy service providers can take advantage of Tendril’s research to start conversations with consumers, create ongoing, effective energy efficiency, demand response and other programs, improve the consumer-utility relationship, and fuel consumers’ willingness to participate in future programs that result in persistent behavioral change.

To learn more about Tendril Connect, please contact Tendril to speak with a technical specialist today.