The paper "Can leaders motivate employees' energy-efficient behavior with thoughtful communication?" by Christin Hoffmann and Kirsten Thommes has been accepted for publication by the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management!
In the paper, we investigate the impact of an employer's communication on energy-efficient behavior on the behavioral responses of a company's employees. Management aims to promote energy-efficient behavior by sending online messages at irregular intervals. We break down each message and analyze the positive or negative emotions, the collective or individual focus and the simplicity of the language.
We compare the daily energy efficiency of employees - in this case truck drivers - after receiving a message with their daily performance without a previous message. We find that messages generally increase efficiency, and messages that convey positive emotions and emphasize a collective orientation are preferable to negative messages. Sending messages has a significant impact on driver performance up to six days after the message, leading to economically relevant cost reductions. In our case, messages lead to a saving of 0.5l of fuel per 100km. The paper can be accessed here.
