THE EFFECT OF GOAL SETTING STRATEGY AND RESIDENTS' GOAL COMMITMENT ON HOUSEHOLD ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of goal setting strategy on household electricity consumption in Singapore. In particular, assigned and self-set goal setting types were compared. Residents’ goal commitment was also accessed to understand the relationship between goals and electricity-saving performance. Goal commitment is a critical construct in understanding the relationship between goals and performance which is explored in many fields of study. However, in the pool of literature to date, little has been done to investigate goal commitment in relation to electricity-saving performances in household goal-setting treatment. This dissertation paper seeks to re-contextualise the associations of goal commitment with electricity saving performance in households and provide meaningful discussion and explanation to the findings observed. A sample of 100 households was recruited and they consist of 4-room and 5-room public housing. Through detailed questionnaires, electricity consumption behavior and residents’ goal commitment scales were obtained. Weekly electricity metering of households was collected, together with the provision of goal setting feedback. Spearman’s correlation revealed a significant positive correlation between self-reported goal commitment and self-set goal choice. However, no significant relationship was found between self-set goal choice and electricity savings. It was also found that goal commitment has no significant relationship with electricity savings when goal difficulty was not a moderator, as in assigned goal group. This study hopes to provide insights for policy makers to incorporate goal setting intervention into electricity smart meters which will be soon launched nationwide.