What energy retailers can learn from prospect theory, voter studies, and a golden retriever

A cartoon stick figure named Toni cut paper towel use in a German bathroom more than any guilt trip ever has. A single word swap; ‘voter’ instead of ‘vote’ moved a US election by 11 points. People will pay real money to keep a button they’ll never press.

What can this teach us about getting people to download an energy app? More than you’d think.

1. Lead with losses

Every energy app store screenshot in Europe says some version of ‘Save €240 a year.’ It’s the most persistent headline in the category, and it’s…fine, really, but it leaves some money on the table.

Ghesla, Grieder, Schmitz & Stadelmann (Energy Policy, 2020) ran a field experiment in which loss-framed pro-environmental incentives reduced electricity consumption by about 5% versus the control group, a notably larger effect than gain-framed equivalents. Prospect theory, the underlying mechanism, says losses register roughly twice as motivating as gains of the same size.

Caveat: don't punch down. There’s a difference between ‘you’re losing €240 a year’ and ‘you, personally, are setting fire to twenty-euro notes in your own kitchen, you absolute donut.’ One is a customer service call and possibly a regulator email.

Time you put some copy to the mighty A/B test…