@techreport{62697,
  abstract     = {{Urged by the European Energy Crisis and the threatening consequences of severe
natural gas shortages, energy providers launched gas-saving initiatives incor-
porating financial incentives to reduce residential natural gas consumption. In
collaboration with one of Germany’s largest energy providers, we conducted
a natural field experiment (N = 2,598) to evaluate the effectiveness of a
behaviorally-guided co-design of such a gas-saving initiative by implementing
two established behavioral instruments – reminders of gas saving intentions and
descriptive norm feedback. Our findings show limited effectiveness of the behav-
ioral instruments during the high-price period. The feedback risks a “boomerang
effect” among households with above-average initial savings, who reduce their
conservation efforts in response. The reminder does not significantly enhance sav-
ings in our main specifications, yet, realizes 1 percentage point savings in alternate
models refining for outliers. Potential mechanisms include a significant intention-
action gap and misperceived effectiveness of energy-saving actions, which are not
alleviated by the reminder.}},
  author       = {{Tinnefeld, Vicky and Kesternich, Martin and Werthschulte, Madeline}},
  keywords     = {{Residential energy savings, energy crisis, behavioral interventions, survey data, field experiment}},
  publisher    = {{ZEW Discussion Paper No. 25-60}},
  title        = {{{Do Energy-Saving Nudges Deliver During High-Price Periods? Field Experimental Evidence From the European Energy Crisis}}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}