Heat of the moment: how temperature influences the search and purchase of energy-using appliances

Decisions with significant and long-lasting consequences can be influenced by conditions at the moment of choice, such as weather. Using administrative data from an online retailer, we examine whether temperature and other weather variables affect the search and purchase of energy-using durables, namely, air conditioners (ACs) and dryers. We observe more sales of ACs on hot days and fewer sales of dryers on hot, windy days. We find no impact for appliances whose usefulness is not affected by the weather. For AC, weather-induced searches and purchases are in lower-efficiency energy classes. Product search data allow us to look into the process leading up to purchase. Prospective AC buyers search less intensively when the temperature is higher, and the opposite holds for buyers of dryers when temperature and wind speed increase. Models of memory and attention can explain these behavioral patterns. Understanding these dynamics is important for designing adaptation and mitigation policies, given the energy needs of cooling technologies and their increased demand and usefulness in a rapidly warming world.