Virgin Atlantic has successfully applied behavioural science to encourage its pilots to save fuel. The airline used a combination of goal setting, feedback, and social recognition to motivate its pilots to use less fuel. The airline gave its pilots personalised goals, updated them on their progress, and praised them for their efforts. The results were impressive, with 6,828 fewer tonnes of CO2 emitted over the course of the experiment.
The behavioural science approach was developed by the Behavioural Insights Team, a company partly owned by the UK government. The team used an experimental design to test the effectiveness of the approach. They split the pilots into four groups, with each group receiving a different level of feedback and recognition. The group that received the most feedback and recognition saved the most fuel.
This experiment shows the potential of behavioural science in reducing fuel consumption and emissions in the aviation industry. It also suggests that similar approaches could be effective in other sectors. Virgin Atlantic plans to continue using this approach and to share its findings with other airlines. The airline believes that the approach could help the aviation industry to meet its environmental targets.
Go to source article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/06/22/virgin-atlantic-just-used-behavioral-science-to-nudge-its-pilots-into-saving-lots-of-fuel/