Last 25th February, María Loureiro has participated in the Workshop on Developments in Energy Economics that was hold in Madrid organized by Spanish Association of Energy Economics (AEEE). Her presentation was "Exploring Energy Use in Fashion Stores: A Field Experiment".
Exploring Energy Use in Fashion Stores: A Field Experiment
Maria L. Loureiro
Optimizing energy use is a growing concern in the commercial sector, particularly for fashion retailers due to its relevance within total expenses and the increasing scrutiny of environmental performance indicators in the textile industry. In this paper we conduct a field experiment (randomized control trial) in a major multinational company to test how information provided to store managers about the environmental impacts of energy use induces changes in selected temperatures within an automated technical platform. Based on a field experiment conducted in 155 stores located in three countries, our results show that managers receiving the information treatment are more likely to change the thermostat manually to reduce the gap between indoor and outdoor temperatures; this is consistent with a more sustainable pattern of heating and cooling.