Consumer Behaviour | VaasaEtt Global Energy Think Tank

Household Preferences for Energy-saving Measures: A Conjoint Analysis

Studies on household energy use generally focus on social and psychological factors influencing the acceptability of energy-saving measures. However, the influence of physical characteristics of energy-saving measures on their acceptability is largely ignored. In this study, preferences for different types of energy-saving measures were examined, by using an additive part-worth function conjoint analysis. Energy-saving measures differed in the domain of energy savings (measures aimed at home energy savings versus measures aimed at transport energy savings), energy-saving strategy (technical improvements, different use of products, and shifts in consumption), and the amount of energy savings (small versus large energy savings). Energy-saving strategy appeared to be the most important characteristic influencing the acceptability of energy-saving measures. In general, technical improvements were preferred over behavioral measures and especially shifts in consumption. Further, home energy-saving measures were more acceptable than transport energy-saving measures. The amount of energy savings was the least important characteristic: there was hardly any difference in the acceptability of measures with small and large energy savings. Except for respondents differing in environmental concern, there were no differences in average acceptability of the energy-saving measures between respondent groups. However, some interesting differences in relative preferences for different types of energy-saving measures were found between respondent groups.

Continue reading about Household Preferences for Energy-saving Measures: A Conjoint Analysis

Changing Organizational Energy Consumption Behaviour Through Comparative Feedback

The differential effects of two forms of feedback on energy consumption behaviour were examined in two units of a metallurgical company. In one unit, employees received information about energy conservation, had to set goals and received feedback on their own conservation behaviour. The same procedure was followed with employees in a second unit, but they also received information about the performance of the first unit. In accordance with predictions from social identity theory and social comparison theory, the results clearly showed that employees in the comparative feedback condition saved more energy than employees who only received information about their own performance, even half a year after the intervention. A remarkable finding was that behavioural change took place with hardly any changes in attitudes or intentions. The discussion focuses on these findings and on their implications for organizational behaviour change in general.

Continue reading about Changing Organizational Energy Consumption Behaviour Through Comparative Feedback

The Influence of Price and Attitude on Shifting Residential Electricity Consumption From On-to-off-Peak Periods

During a three year period a stratified random sample of residential electricity consumers in Northeastern Wisconsin, USA were placed on one of three time-of-day price ratios, 2:1, 4:1, or 8:1. During the course of the period family attitudes and knowledge were measured. Those with higher price ratios used less on-peak electricity (B= −0.15, p < 0.01), while a psychological commitment had a larger impact on behavior than price (B = 0.33, p < 0.001). These two factors were largely independent. Those with a commitment to shift did so even at the low price ratios. The data show that higher levels knowledge about time-of-day rates and how to shift electricity usage to off-peak periods are associated with personal commitment to shift. Higher price differentials and more appliances appear to increase knowledge and, indirectly, commitment.
Partial support for this research was provided by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The Graduate School, University of Wisconsin. Additional support was provided by Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, Green Bay, WI, and by the US Department of Energy. The authors would like to thank Susan Hedman Cross, a University of Wisconsin graduate assistant, for her help in the revising of this paper.

Continue reading about The Influence of Price and Attitude on Shifting Residential Electricity Consumption From On-to-off-Peak Periods

Effects of Information Presentation Format on Resource Use in Field Studies

Information presentation forrnat is an important variable in altering resource use,
yielding the same or greater reductions in use as relatively large price increases.
Marked reductions in resource use in the experimental field studies we review are
apparently the result of presenting information about conservation strategies in a
vivid and specific manner, with the formats constituting a rudimentary ‘information
technology.” Application of these findings to consumer research, information search
processes, and consumer information regulatory policy are outlined.

Continue reading about Effects of Information Presentation Format on Resource Use in Field Studies

The Constructive, Destructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms

Despite a long tradition of effectiveness in
laboratory tests, normative messages have had mixed
success in changing behavior in field contexts, with some
studies showing boomerang effects. To test a theoretical
account of this inconsistency, we conducted a field experiment
in which normative messages were used to promote
household energy conservation. As predicted, a descriptive
normative message detailing average neighborhood usage
produced either desirable energy savings or the undesirable
boomerang effect, depending on whether households
were already consuming at a low or high rate. Also as
predicted, adding an injunctive message (conveying social
approval or disapproval) eliminated the boomerang
effect. The results offer an explanation for the mixed
success of persuasive appeals based on social norms and
suggest how such appeals should be properly crafted.

Continue reading about The Constructive, Destructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms

What Changes Energy Consumption? Prices and Public Pressures

Policymakers often seek to limit energy prices following market shocks, and instead issue public
appeals to reduce demand. This article presents new evidence on how price changes and
conservation appeals affect energy consumption, using household-level data from California’s
energy crisis during 2000 and 2001. The evidence indicates that when policymakers cap energy
prices following market shocks, they preclude substantial—and quite rapid—reductions in energy
use. The data also reveal that conservation appeals and informational programs can produce
sustained reductions in energy demand.

Continue reading about What Changes Energy Consumption? Prices and Public Pressures

Motivating Residents to Conserve Energy Without Financial Incentives

Given the aim to motivate people to conserve energy in their homes, we need to understand what drives people’s energy use behavior and how it can be influenced. This article describes applied energy-conservation campaigns at two U.S. military installations where residents do not pay their own utility bills. Customized approaches were designed for each installation based on a broad social-psychological model. Before-and-after energy use was measured and residents were surveyed about their end-use behaviors. Residents said they were motivated by the desire to do the right thing, set a good example for their children, and have a comfortable home. For sustained change, respondents recommended continued awareness and education, disincentives, and incentives. Findings show support for some aspects of a social-psychological model, with emphasis on altruistic as well as egoistic motives for behavioral change. These studies may have implications for other situations where residents are not billed for individual energy use, including other government-subsidized facilities, master-metered apartments, and university dormitories.

Continue reading about Motivating Residents to Conserve Energy Without Financial Incentives

Descriptive Normative Beliefs and Conservation Behavior: The Moderating Roles of Personal Involvement and Injunctive Normative Beliefs

There is ample evidence of the power of social influence on pro-environmental behaviors. Beliefs about the conservation behavior of others (descriptive normative beliefs) have a strong positive correlation with one’s own conservation actions. However, this relationship has not been investigated much further in terms of possible moderators or involved mechanisms of information processing. The present study examines two potential moderators and draws links to underlying processing mechanisms. We hypothesized that personal involvement with conservation issues and beliefs about other’s approval of conservation (injunctive normative beliefs) would moderate the relationship between descriptive normative beliefs and conservation behavior. The sample consisted of 1604 California residents that were recruited through random digit telephone dialing. Results showed that both injunctive normative beliefs and personal involvement moderated the relationship between descriptive normative beliefs and conservation behavior. High personal involvement weakened the relationship, whereas high injunctive normative beliefs strengthened it. We conclude from these findings that descriptive normative beliefs influence conservation behavior through a rather nonconscious, peripheral route of information processing, while personal involvement motivates a more elaborate, central route of information processing.

Continue reading about Descriptive Normative Beliefs and Conservation Behavior: The Moderating Roles of Personal Involvement and Injunctive Normative Beliefs

Energy Conservation Through Behavioral Change: Examining the Effectiveness of a Tailor‑Made Approach

As soon as seasonal temperatures start to drop signifi cantly in the Netherlands, some time in the autumn, advertisement campaigns advocating the benefi ts of energy conservation tend to crop up. These advertisements aim to encourage households to save energy, by emphasizing that energy conservation activities can
be fairly effortless and do not necessarily entail a loss of comfort or quality of life, as illustrated by the use of terms like ‘comfortable living’, ‘cozy home base’ and ‘enjoy’. As soon as spring has set in, the advertisements cease. The question remains whether interventions, such as the advertisement campaigns referred to in the above
example, are in fact successful in enticing households to reduce their energy use. Do households start adopting energy‑saving measures, and why (not)? And, do these efforts to conserve energy actually make a diff erence? In other words, what is the environmental impact of these behavioral changes in terms of energy conservation
or CO2 emission reductions? A number of important issues need to be taken into account when developing,
implementing and evaluating interventions aimed at encouraging energy conservation among households. If the aim is to successfully encourage households to reduce their energy use, it is necessary to examine the eff ectiveness of interventions in terms of changes in energy use (i.e. energy savings), changes in energy‑related
behaviors and changes in behavioral antecedents. Interventions aimed at energy conservation will be more eff ective if they target behavioral antecedents. This provides additional insight into why interventions were (in)effective, which can subsequently serve as input for their further improvement. The main objective of this dissertation is to develop better understandings of the effectiveness of interventions aimed to encourage households to reduce their energy use via behavioral changes, and to enhance our understandings of the psychological factors related to household energy
use and conservation by means of the application of various social‑psychological theories.

Continue reading about Energy Conservation Through Behavioral Change: Examining the Effectiveness of a Tailor‑Made Approach

Why, What, When, How, Where and Who? Developing UK Policy on Metering, Billing and Energy Display Devices

The European Directive on Energy End-use Efficiency and Energy Services requires EU member states to ensure that energy consumers have frequent and informative billing, along with meters that reflect consumption accurately and provide information on time of use. There is a lively debate in the UK on what new forms of metering, tariffing and billing are feasible, and on possible environmental and social consequences. The main parties to that debate have been government and the energy regulator, electricity and gas suppliers, consumer bodies, environmental organisations, and manufacturers of meters and metering accessories. This paper reports on and analyses some of the issues relating to billing, metering and attempts to change consumer behaviour in the UK. It highlights the dispute over the desirability of requiring suppliers to give feedback displays to residential customers in advance of a smart metering rollout, outlining tensions between anticipated benefits to the utilities (from smart metering) and to end-users and the environment (from improved feedback leading to conservation). Definitions, interpretations of the Directive, and the institutional context for feedback and smart metering are analysed in relation to research evidence for energy feedback as a tool for carbon reduction and demand management. The uses and limitations of the research literature in a contested area of policy are discussed.

Continue reading about Why, What, When, How, Where and Who? Developing UK Policy on Metering, Billing and Energy Display Devices