Susceptibility to Inattention: Unpacking Who is Susceptible to Inattention in Energy-Based Electronic Billing

Abstract

In this paper, we examine characteristics that may change the susceptibility to inattention in electronic billing (e-billing). Digitization of energy bills can increase the delivery of energy feedback and increase knowledge around conservation efforts, only when attention remains at similar levels to that of paper bills. We hypothesize that only subsets of the population are susceptible to inattention in e-billing. We do this by estimating energy consumption for e-bill and paper billers controlling for several characteristics of participants, homes, and weather in the City of Tallahassee, Florida. We use a difference-in-differences (DD) approach to estimate the effects of the e-bill participation, which is a common approach for observational and quasi-experimental settings. We find that budget constraints limit an individual’s susceptibility to inattention in e-billing, with lower income groups decreasing energy consumption on average by 4.4% but has no effect on higher income groups. This suggests that inattention may not occur at the same levels or for the same reasons for all members of the public. This has implications regarding the practice of policy design and communication strategies for the public at large.