Can an informative artefact induce sustainable behaviour in the French households? The answer of a cognitive transfer experience

In the early 2000's, French environmental policies almost never targeted households. Against this background, the author’s hypothesis is that it is possible to mobilise French households and make them adopt more sustainable behavior if they can both measure their own impact and start a conversation about it within their social circles.
In order to do so, she creates an Energy Environment Budget (EEB) that helps households measure their environmental impact. She then introduces them to two different groups of people (cognitive transfer) and observes the way people react for a duration of six months. Her findings show that information tools are all the more efficient when they are associated with intermediate socialisation levels. Referring to the Theory of the Ecological Modernisation of Production and Consumption, she also shows that action taking also depends on people’s identity as human beings (physical perceptions, anxiety) and as citizens ( trust or mistrust of the State’s actions and policies).