Dr. Bernadette Sütterlin

Work at ZHAW

Position

Co-Leader Subteam "Energy Behaviour"

Focus

• Perception and acceptance of technologies
• Attitude and behavior change
• Sustainable consumer behavior
• Judgment and decision making

Teaching

• Transformation of Socio-technical Systems (TRANS)
• Field of Technology Analysis (TEFA); input on technology acceptance and social science research methodology
• BW-SMART Smart Living (ZHAW School of Engineering)

Professional development teaching

• WBK Grundlagen und Organisation von Sustainable Smart Cities & Regions
• WBK Data, Energy and Mobility for Sustainable Smart Cities & Regions
• CAS Sustainable Smart Cities & Regions – Data, Energy and Mobility

Experience

• Co-Leader Subteam "Energy Behaviour"
  ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences
  10 / 2023 - today
• Senior Researcher and Lecturer at the Institute of Sustainable Development (INE)
  ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences
  12 / 2018 - today
• Senior Researcher and Lecturer at the Chair of Consumer Behavior at the Institute for Environmental Decisions (IED)
  ETH Zurich
  02 / 2015 - 12 / 2019
• Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer at the Chair of Consumer Behavior at the Institute for Environmental Decisions (IED)
  ETH Zurich
  04 / 2012 - 01 / 2015
• Research Assistant (PhD Student) at the Chair of Consumer Behavior at the Institute for Environmental Decisions (IED)
  ETH Zurich
  02 / 2009 - 03 / 2012
• Relationship Manager at Credit Suisse Private Banking
  Credit Suisse
  04 / 2008 - 01 / 2009
• Career Starter (Relationship Management) at Credit Suisse Privat Banking
  Credit Suisse
  10 / 2006 - 03 / 2008

Education and Continuing education

Education

• PhD / Psychology
  ETH Zurich
  02 / 2009 - 03 / 2012
• Master of Science / Psychology
  University of Basel
  10 / 2004 - 09 / 2006
• Bachelor of Science / Psychology
  University of Basel
  11 / 2000 - 10 / 2004

Network

Membership of networks

• Swiss Academic Society for Environmental Research and Ecology (saguf)
• Member of the Horizon Europe “Mission Assembly for Adaptation to Climate Change including Societal Transformation“
• Member of the European Platform for Energy Research in the Socioeconomic Nexus (PERSON)
• Member of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP)

ORCID digital identifier

ORCID ID: 0000-0001-9749-6660

Media presence

Sütterlin, B. (2022, March 12). Climate Change: The Brain Paradox [Klimawandel und Vogel-Strauss-Taktik; Climat : Mon cerveau fait l’autruche] / Interviewer: R. Hitier [Documentary]. Arte.

Projects

• Active Mobility Campaign at Lokstadt / Deputy project leader / ongoing
• Living Labs Interfaces for Energy Transition / Team member / ongoing
• SWEET SWICE - Sustainable Wellbeing for the Individual and the Collectivity in the Energy transition / Project leader / ongoing
• SNF Ambizione Evaluation / Team member / ongoing
• Swiss Smart City Outreach / Team member / completed
• DSS_Embrace: A collaborative environment to embrace deep uncertainties in decision making on climate risks / Co-project leader / completed
• Swiss Smart City Survey / Team member / completed
• Development/Upscaling of a digital neighborhood platform / Project leader / completed
• Evaluation digital neighborhood platform / Project leader / completed
• Integration in the neighbourhood through sustainability projects / Team member / completed

Publications

Articles in scientific journal, peer-reviewed

• Topak, F. et al. (2026) 'Mind the acceptability gap: integrating lifestyle diversity into energy sufficiency analysis of the Swiss residential building stock', Energy Research & Social Science, 136(104751). doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104751.
• Contzen, N. et al. (2024) 'Public opinion about solar radiation management : a cross-cultural study in 20 countries around the world', Climatic Change, 177(4), p. 65. doi: 10.1007/s10584-024-03708-3.
• Tomic, U. et al. (2024) 'Reducing hot water consumption through real-time feedback and social comparison using persuasive technologies : evidence from a Swiss energy-efficient district', Energy Efficiency, 17(15). doi: 10.1007/s12053-024-10199-9.
• Funk, A., Sütterlin, B. and Siegrist, M. (2021) 'Consumer segmentation based on stated environmentally-friendly behavior in the food domain', Sustainable Production and Consumption, 25, pp. 173–186. doi: 10.1016/j.spc.2020.08.010.
• Hoogendoorn, G., Sütterlin, B. and Siegrist, M. (2021) 'Tampering with nature : a systematic review', Risk Analysis, 41(1), pp. 141–156. doi: 10.1111/risa.13619.
• Dihr, M. et al. (2021) 'Consumers' knowledge gain through a cross-category environmental label', Journal of Cleaner Production, 319(128688). doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128688.
• Funk, A., Sütterlin, B. and Siegrist, M. (2020) 'The stereotypes attributed to hosts when they offer an environmentally-friendly vegetarian versus a meat menu', Journal of Cleaner Production, 250(119508). doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119508.

Written conference contributions, peer-reviewed

Derungs, C. et al. (2019) 'Occupant-centred temperature reduction in an energy efficient site', in Journal of Physics: Conference Series. IOP Publishing. doi: 10.1088/1742-6596/1343/1/012146.

Other publications

• Lobsiger-Kägi, E. et al. (2025) Persona tool. Winterthur: ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften. doi: 10.21256/zhaw-33462.
• Sütterlin, B. et al. (2024) Sustainability lifestyle typology. Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE. doi: 10.21256/zhaw-31386.
• Lobsiger-Kägi, E. et al. (2021) 'Wie Nachhaltigkeitsprojekte zu sozialer Integration im Quartier beitragen können', in Book of Abstracts INUAS Konferenz 2021. HM Hochschule München, pp. 300–303. Available at: https://www.inuas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/INUAS2021_Book-of-Abstract_FINAL.pdf.
• Lobsiger-Kägi, E. et al. (2021) Integration im Quartier durch Nachhaltigkeitsprojekte (IQN). ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften. doi: 10.21256/zhaw-23696.

Oral conference contributions and abstracts

• Tomic, U. et al. (2023) 'Unveiling sustainability-related lifestyles : a framework for lifestyle-based segmentation in sustainability research', in 7th European Conference on Behaviour and Energy Efficiency (BEHAVE), Maastricht, The Netherlands, 28-29 November 2023.
• Sütterlin, B., Lobsiger-Kägi, E. and Carabias-Hütter, V. (2021) 'Promotion of environmental and social sustainability through a digital community platform in the context of the Corona pandemic', in International Conference of Environmental Psychology (ICEP), Syracuse, Italy, 5-8 October 2021.
• Lobsiger-Kägi, E. et al. (2019) 'Enhancing smart neighborhood life through a mobile app', in Book of Abstracts : INUAS Conference 2019: Housing under Pressure. Wien: FH Campus Wien, pp. 83–85. Available at: https://www.inuas.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/BoA-INUAS-Conference-2019.pdf.
• Tomic, U. et al. (2019) '2000-Watt-Gesellschaft leben : Planung alleine reicht nicht aus', in Book of Abstracts : INUAS Conference 2019: Housing under Pressure. Wien: FH Campus Wien, pp. 96–97. Available at: https://www.inuas.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/BoA-INUAS-Conference-2019.pdf.

Publications before appointment at the ZHAW

• Goto Gray, S., Sütterlin, B., Siegrist, M., & Arvai, J. (2020). The value of virtue signaling: Corporate sleight-of-hand positively influences consumers’ judgments about social license to operate. Journal of Environmental Management, 260, 110047.
• Hoogendoorn, G., Sütterlin, B., & Siegrist, M. (2020). The climate change beliefs fallacy: the influence of climate change beliefs on the perceived consequences of climate change. Journal of Risk Research, 23(12), 1577-1589.
• Hoogendoorn, G., Sütterlin, B., & Siegrist, M. (2019). When good intentions go bad: The biased perception of the environmental impact of a behavior due to reliance on an actor’s behavioral intention. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 64, 65-77.
• Lienert, P., Sütterlin, B., & Siegrist, M. (2018). Public acceptance of high-voltage power lines: The influence of information provision on undergrounding. Energy Policy, 112, 305-315.
• Siegrist, M., Sütterlin, B., & Hartmann, C. (2018). Perceived naturalness and evoked disgust influence acceptance of cultured meat. Meat Science, 139, 213-219.
• Lienert, P., Sütterlin, B., & Siegrist, M. (2017). The influence of high-voltage power lines on the feelings evoked by different Swiss surroundings. Energy Research & Social Sciences, 23, 46-59.
• Siegrist, M. & Sütterlin, B. (2017). Importance of perceived naturalness for acceptance of food additives and cultured meat. Appetite, 113, 320-326.
• Sütterlin, B. & Siegrist, M. (2017). Public perception of solar radiation management: The impact of information and evoked affect. Journal of Risk Research, 20(10), 1292-1307.
• Sütterlin, B. & Siegrist, M. (2017). Public acceptance of renewable energy technologies from an abstract versus concrete perspective and the positive imagery of solar power. Energy Policy, 106, 356-366
• Waechter, S., Sütterlin, B., & Siegrist, M. (2017). Decision-making strategies for the choice of energy-friendly products. Journal of Consumer Policy, 40, 81-103.
• Siegrist, M. & Sütterlin, B. (2016). People’s reliance on the affect heuristic may result in a biased perception of gene technology. Food Quality and Preference, 54, 137-140.
• Siegrist, M., Hartmann, C., & Sütterlin, B. (2016). Biased perception about gene technology: How perceived naturalness and affect distort benefit perception. Appetite, 96, 509-516.
• Waechter, S., Sütterlin, B., Borghoff, J. & Siegrist, M. (2016). Letters, signs, and colors: How the display of energy-efficiency information influences consumer assessments of products. Energy Research & Social Science, 15, 86-95.
• Lienert, P., Sütterlin, B., & Siegrist, M. (2015). Public acceptance of the expansion and modification of high—voltage power lines in the context of the energy transition. Energy Policy, 87, 573-583.
• Sütterlin, B. & Siegrist, M. (2015). Simply adding the word “fruit” makes sugar healthier: The misleading effect of symbolic information on the perceived healthiness of food. Appetite, 95, 252-261.
• Waechter, S., Sütterlin, B., & Siegrist, M. (2015). Desired and undesired effects of energy labels: An eye-tracking study. PLoS ONE, 10(7), e0134132.
• Waechter, S., Sütterlin, B., & Siegrist, M. (2015). The misleading effect of energy efficiency information on perceived energy friendliness of electric goods. Journal of Cleaner Production, 93, 193-202.
• Siegrist, M. & Sütterlin, B. (2014). Human and nature-caused hazards: The affect heuristic causes biased decisions. Risk Analysis, 34(8), 1482-1494.
• Siegrist, M., Sütterlin, B., & Keller, C. (2014). Why have some people changed their attitudes toward nuclear power after the accident in Fukushima? Energy Policy, 69, 356-363.
• Sütterlin, B. & Siegrist, M. (2014). The reliance on symbolically significant behavioral attributes when judging energy consumption behaviors. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 40, 259-272.
• Sütterlin, B., Brunner, T. A., & Siegrist, M. (2013). Impact of social value orientation on energy conservation in different behavioral domains. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43(8), 1725-1735.
• Sütterlin, B., Brunner, T. A., & Siegrist, M. (2011). Who puts the most energy into energy conservation? A segmentation of energy consumers based on energy-related behavioral characteristics. Energy Policy, 39(12), 8137-8152.
• Sütterlin, B., Brunner, T. A., & Opwis, K. (2008). Eye-tracking the cancellation and focus model for preference judgments. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44(3), 904-911.

go back