The Impact of Abstract vs. Concrete Feedback Design on Behavior – Insights from a Large Eco-Driving Field Experiment

About 17% of the worldwide CO2-emissions can be ascribed to road transportation. Using information systems (IS)-enabled feedback has shown to be very efficient in promoting a less fuel-consuming driving style. Today, in-car IS that provide feedback on driving behavior are in the midst of a fundamental change. Increasing digitalization of in-car IS enables virtually any kind of feedback. Still, we see a gap in the empirical evidence on how to leverage this potential, raising questions on future HCI-based feedback design. To address this knowledge gap, we designed an eco-driving feedback IS and, building upon construal level theory, hypothesize that abstract feedback is more effective in reducing fuel consumption than concrete feedback. Deployed in a large field experiment with 56 participants covering over 297,000km, we provide first empirical evidence that supports this hypothesis. Despite its limitations, this research may have general implications for the design of real-time feedback.