Same, same but different: academic and commercial perspectives on app-based energy behaviour change

Digitalised individual information feedback has emerged in the last ten years in the energy sector. Typically embedded in existing services and enabled with ICT capacity, the digital tools allow for high resolution of energy consumption data. Thus previously intangible behavioural impacts by consumer can be quantified cheaply and ubiquitously. This has sparked high interest in both research, particularly environmental psychology for behaviour change, and commercial practice.

In the last five years, several EUi research grants supported smart phone app development for energy reduction resulting in many research teams providing consumers with engaging and (almost) real-time feedback. In parallel, the commercial sector also jumped on this opportunity, and in 2019 more than 2000 apps supporting sustainable energy behaviour change could be found in the US Apple Store.
With so much activity happening within and outside of academia, this work looks to better understand the different design principles and theories of behaviour change used in both