Dataset Information

Applying customer commitments to natural gas utility energy conservation.

ABSTRACT: Previous energy conservation research highlights the importance of behavior, customer commitments, and energy efficiency programs. Much has been written on the impact of behavior energy efficiency savings documented through home energy report programs. This research expands upon utility efforts to offer behavior utility programs and documents the impact of utility customer commitment research through a formalized utility pilot program. In this pilot program in Utah, the ThermWise^® (ThermWise is the company related branding for Dominion Energy's energy efficiency programs in Utah.) Energy Pledge, natural gas utility residential customers agreed to a 2-year customer energy pledge pilot program (2019-2021). By enrolling in the pilot, customers set a goal for energy reduction. Customers received monthly text messages in the program with energy-saving tips, a monthly goal status email, cold winter text alerts, and annual emailed program reports. Initially, in 2019, over 2000 customers enrolled in the pilot program. Following the program, an evaluation revealed significant energy savings. Most compelling in those findings discovered that customers who agreed to allow their name to be published on a corporate website had over double the savings of other program participants. The pledge program confirms the impact of customer commitments on their energy use and offers promise for future utility programs encompassing commitments. Further research is warranted on identifying how further incorporate commitments into utility programs.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12053-023-10122-8.

SUBMITTER: Peterson TC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10258768 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Applying customer commitments to natural gas utility energy conservation.

Peterson Ted C TC

Energy efficiency 20230612 5

Previous energy conservation research highlights the importance of behavior, customer commitments, and energy efficiency programs. Much has been written on the impact of behavior energy efficiency savings documented through home energy report programs. This research expands upon utility efforts to offer behavior utility programs and documents the impact of utility customer commitment research through a formalized utility pilot program. In this pilot program in Utah, the ThermWise<sup>®</sup> (Th ...[more]

PMID: 37334426

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Project description:BackgroundA significant health challenge is evident in the United States, with 6 in 10 adults having a chronic disease and 4 in 10 adults having 2 or more. Chronic disease self-management aims to prevent or delay disease progression and disability and reduce mortality risk. The evidence to support the use of information technology tools, including mobile apps, web-based portals, and web-based educational interventions, that support disease self-management and improve clinical outcomes is growing. Customer discovery and value proposition design methodology is a form of stakeholder engagement and is based on marketing and lean start-up business methods. As applied in health care, customer discovery and value proposition methodology can be used to understand the clinical problem and articulate the product's hypothesized unique value proposition relative to alternative options that are available to end users.ObjectiveThis study aims to describe the experience and findings of academic researchers applying the customer discovery and value proposition methodology to identify stakeholders, needs, adaptability, and sustainability of a chronic disease self-management mobile app (CDapp). The motivation of the work is to make mobile health app interventions accessible and acceptable for all segments of patients' chronic diseases.MethodsData were obtained through key informant interviews and analyzed using rapid qualitative analysis techniques. The value proposition framework was used to build the interview guide. The aim was to identify the needs, challenges (pains), and potential benefits (gains) of the CDapp for our stakeholders.ResultsOur results showed that the primary consumers (end users) of a CDapp were the patients. The app adopters (decision makers) can be medical center leaders including population health department managers or insurance providers, while the consumer adoption influencers (influencers or saboteurs) are clinicians and patient caregivers. We developed an ecosystem map to visualize the clinical practice workflow and how an app for chronic disease management might integrate within an academic health care center or system. A value proposition for the identified customer segments was generated. Each stakeholder segment was working within a different framework to improve patient self-management. Patients needed help to adhere to self-care activities and they needed tailored health education. Health care leaders aim to improve the quality of care while reducing costs and workload. Clinicians wanted to improve patient education and care while reducing the time burden. Our results also showed that within academic medical centers, there were variations regarding patients' self-reported abilities to manage their diseases.ConclusionsCustomer discovery is a useful form of stakeholder engagement when designing studies that seek to implement, adapt, and sustain an intervention. The customer discovery and value proposition methodology can be used as an alternative or complementary approach to formative research to generate valuable information in a brief period.

Project description:IntroductionThe success of global health interventions heavily relies on reaching populations in a way that aligns with their priorities and needs. This warrants novel approaches to determine the design of meaningful interventions and targeted delivery pathways. To date, global health scholarship and practice have largely underused approaches already established in fields that emphasize customer satisfaction, such as quality management or consumer psychology.MethodsIn our study, we apply Kano methodology-originally designed to understand how product attributes nonlinearly influence customer satisfaction-to inform design decisions regarding a video-based vaccine intervention in the Philippines. Between September 2021 and April 2022, we administered a Kano questionnaire to 205 caregivers of small children. Data were analyzed following routine Kano approaches, supplemented by cultural consensus analysis (CCA), which is an approach used largely in anthropology to identify distinct cultural groups and competencies.ResultsApplying Kano and CCA methodologies allowed us to make informed design decisions in terms of optimizing accessibility and credibility of an intervention that ultimately proved successful in bolstering vaccine intentions. Results guided us to include national and international logos, to appreciate the value of summarizing key messages, and to recognize the importance of fact- or story-based communication as attributes that influenced respondent satisfaction one-dimensionally. We found that involving trusted messengers and including text-based information were required to avoid dissatisfaction. Interacting with someone after viewing the product and creating opportunities to share the promotional material via social media were attractive attributes whose presence would increase satisfaction but would not spark severe dissatisfaction if omitted. Other attributes (short duration, video- or animation-based intervention, delivering the intervention at health centers or in group settings) played a limited role in respondent satisfaction.ConclusionsGlobal health research and practice can benefit from applying approaches established in other fields when making evidence-based prioritization decisions to tailor interventions.

Dataset Information

Applying customer commitments to natural gas utility energy conservation.

Supplementary information

Publications

Applying customer commitments to natural gas utility energy conservation.

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