As global temperatures rise, so does our reliance on air conditioning (AC), which accounts for 7% of global electricity use in 2022. But what if the solution to sustainable cooling is not just about better AC technology to cool the entire space, but about changing our behaviour to cooling ourselves? Maggie Yang explores how social norms can encourage office workers in China to adopt personal cooling strategies, potentially saving energy while maintaining comfort.
The cooling conundrum
We’re now trapped in a dangerous downward spiral. As global temperatures rise, we crank up the air conditioning. This drives energy consumption upward, pumping out more greenhouse gases, which makes the planet hotter – requiring even more cooling. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that cooling demand will explode in coming decades, especially across the Global South.
The standard response – installing more efficient air conditioners – will not solve this alone. Research has shown that efficiency gains do not necessarily reduce overall energy use. There’s also the overlooked issue of overcooling, particularly affecting women in offices where temperatures are set for men in full suits.
A different way to stay cool
What if we stopped trying to cool entire buildings and focused on cooling people instead? This isn’t a new idea – personal cooling devices (PCDs) like desk fans, cooling cushions, and portable units use a fraction of the energy of central air conditioning. The potential savings are striking: research found raising temperatures from 22 to 25°C could cut cooling energy use by 29%.
But the simplest solution requires no technology at all: wearing appropriate clothing for the climate. Japan’s Cool Biz programme proved this works at a national scale: the ministers took the lead in appearing in public without their jackets and ties, prompting others to follow the practice, cutting carbon emissions of one to three million tons each year. Yet in many Chinese offices, particularly in finance, the business suit remains a symbol of professionalism and peer respect, according to our earlier qualitative research. This is where behavioural science enters the picture.
Testing the power of social norms
Looking at existing social norms interventions in pro-environmental behaviours, we wondered: could social norms – those unwritten rules about common and socially acceptable behaviour – nudge Chinese office workers toward sustainable cooling?
We investigated through a pre-registered online cross-sectional experiment with 743 financial employees in Guangdong Province, China in the summer of 2022. We focused on two personal cooling behaviours: switching to lighter clothing, and using personal cooling devices (PCD).
We showed participants mock WeChat messages (China’s dominant social messaging platform) about a hypothetical company cooling initiative. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions:
- A control group received a message from the company admin introducing an initiative to encourage less use of AC and more personal cooling in the company, which serves as the conversation background, and educational information on benefits and strategies of personal cooling.
On top of the information sent to the control group, other groups:
- Received statistics revealing that the majority of their peers had already adopted personal cooling strategies (descriptive norm information treatment).
- Saw their company leader endorsing the change with an supportive thumbs-up emoji (leader’s injunctive norm signal treatment).
- Received both the statistics and thumbs-up emoji (both norm treatments).
Figure 1: Messages randomised across four experimental groups
Source: Yang et al (2025)
Outcomes were self-reported: we asked respondents about the warmth of their office clothing level and how often they used personal cooling devices before and after the experiment conditions. In the after-treatment questions, we added a mention of a hypothetical increase of AC setpoints in their offices. As an alternative outcome, we asked participants how willing they were to commit to the two sustainable cooling behaviours (with a ‘definitely yes’ response indicating strong commitment, and a ‘possibly yes’ response indicating moderate commitment).
Our hypothesis was straightforward: people would be more willing to wear lighter clothing and use personal cooling devices more if they saw others were doing so (descriptive norm information) or if their leaders sent an approving signal (injunctive norm signal). We anticipated such an increase in personal cooling behaviours would be more prominent in the both-norms group than the groups with only one form of norm treatments.
What works (and what doesn’t)
Our experiment showed mixed results in the effectiveness of social norms in promoting personal cooling in offices:
What worked: Only the both-norms condition.
- Participants receiving both norm messages chose significantly lighter clothing
- They were 2.4 times more likely to make high commitments to wearing lighter clothing than a low commitment.
What backfired: Single-norm messages actually made things worse.
- Descriptive norms alone reduced commitment to lighter clothing.
- Leadership signals alone also reduced commitment to lighter clothing.
What didn’t budge: PCD use showed zero change across all outcomes, regardless of message type.
Figure 2: Behaviour change outcomes on clothing switch and use of personal cooling devices
Source: Yang et al (2025)
Our mixed results reveal the complexities of changing cooling behaviours, which could be related to the effectiveness of the social norms, the actual limits of social norms, the characteristics of the cooling behaviours, and order effect in the questionnaire design.
On effectiveness, combined norms succeeded in nudging people towards lighter clothing where single messages failed. This dual approach creates a synergy that overcomes the limitations of either norm alone, as shown in previous studies on combined normative messaging. However, single-norm messages triggered psychological reactance—participants resisted perceived pressure on their freedom when asked about longer-term commitment to ligher clothing. The behaviours themselves also differed fundamentally: everyone owns various clothes and can easily adjust, but personal cooling devices face multiple barriers: availability, noise, professional appearance concerns, and physical discomfort. Finally, asking about clothing first likely created substitution rather than complementary effects. Participants might find it sufficient to wear lighter clothing, and hence did not choose to also use PCDs more.
What does it mean in practice?
Our findings point toward four practical strategies for organisations seeking to promote sustainable cooling:
1. Both norms together work better: Show employees that peers in their industry are adopting personal cooling while having leadership visibly endorse the change. This combination addresses the lack of awareness about body-focused cooling while providing the social approval crucial in hierarchical workplaces.
2. Awareness matters: Provide clear information on the how-to and effectiveness of personal cooling through effective channels – whether WeChat groups or formal leadership emails. As our experiment shows, basic educational content might already facilitate change in the willingness to adopt personal cooling.
3. Challenge the suit tradition: The formal dress code remains a fundamental barrier. For instance, following Japan’s Cool Biz programme, leaders could model climate-appropriate clothing.
4. Balance sustainability with equity: The goal is sufficient cooling for all – addressing both the energy waste of overcooling and the genuine need for thermal comfort. Building managers should avoid settings that undermine productivity while still achieving energy savings.
The path forward
The effects of social norm nudges in our study were small to marginal – just a few percentage points of change and only in relation to lighter clothing. This reflects the inherent complexity of changing cooling behaviours, which are embedded in workplace culture and material constraints. Creating a believable online scenario for office cooling initiatives also revealed how unusual such discussions remain in Chinese workplaces. Unlike simpler behaviours like recycling, office cooling involves multiple actors, competing priorities, and questions of professional identity.
Climate change demands we reconsider how we cool in offices in warmer climates. But our results suggest it takes more than informational nudges. Real change needs coordinated efforts, including policy support (like Japan’s Cool Biz), infrastructure (providing cooling alternatives), and gradual cultural shifts (changing norms about professional appearance).
Read the full study here.
Guanyu Yang is a BR-UK Research Fellow at the Centre for Behaviour Change, University College London
Michelle Shipworth is an Associate Professor at Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources, University College London.
Lorenzo Lotti is an Associate Professor (Teaching) in Economics of Energy and the Environment at Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources, University College London.