Feedback on progress determines whether energy-saving goals change behavior at all.

Evidence

Turning a vision into reality requires adopting progressive, short-term goals that provide guides, strategies, and motivators in the here and now. Goals without reliable feedback on progress have little or no effect (Bandura, 1991a). During a hot New Jersey summer, families adopted a goal of reducing their energy use by 20% (Becker, 1978). Half the group received feedback every two days on the amount of energy they used; the other half received no feedback on their energy use. Families that received performance feedback significantly reduced their energy use. In contrast, families that did not receive performance feedback achieved no change. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2944

Categorization

• SEED: The Becker 1978 study — families halved energy use with feedback, nothing without — is a clean, citable empirical anchor for a piece on why smart meters and usage dashboards work.
• SHARE: Send to anyone in behavior-change design or product at an energy company: the cleanest demonstration that goal alone is inert, feedback is what moves the needle.
• XREF: Mirrors the ‘one-shot cheating’ logic in Milgrom’s law merchant piece — information feedback (here on consumption) is what makes cooperative equilibria attainable.