Impacts of Advertising on Market Transformation: A Case Study of PG&E’s 2007 CFL Marketing Campaign

Panel: Market Transformation: Taking Efficiency Mainstream

Authors:
Barbara Wingate, Pacific Gas & Electric Company
Jennifer E. Canseco, KEMA, Inc.

Abstract

Many technology adoption studies have demonstrated that before a technology will be widely adopted by consumers, individuals must first have favorable attitudes toward it. Program implementers expend considerable resources on marketing energy-efficient technologies with the hope that the advertisements will positively impact consumer perceptions, ultimately leading to the consumers' decisions to purchase the technologies.

In July, 2007, Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) launched a significant advertising campaign designed to influence consumer perceptions of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). The campaign was designed to create and reinforce positive impressions of specific CFL attributes with the ultimate goal of changing consumer behavior regarding CFLs - namely, generating increased CFL purchase and installation rates among PG&E customers. PG&E conducted a three-phase research study designed to track changes in consumer perceptions of CFLs and to evaluate the effectiveness of the ad campaign in encouraging consumers to purchase CFLs.

The first (or baseline) phase was conducted prior to PG&E's campaign going "live." The second phase was completed approximately one month after the campaign was launched, and the third at the campaign's conclusion. While it was difficult to attribute changes in consumer perceptions and behavior to specific advertisements, the research has identified positive changes in consumer perceptions of CFL attributes, satisfaction, likelihood of recommending CFLs to friends and family, and stated future purchase intentions. This paper presents key results from all three phases of research and discusses its wider implications for program designers, marketers, and policymakers.