Effectiveness of China’s Labeling and Incentive Programs for Household Energy Conservation and Policy Implications

Abstract

With incomplete information about the potential benefits and costs of energy-using durables, households may be unwilling to invest in products that are more energy-efficient but also more expensive in purchase decisions. To deal with this problem, labeling policy has been developed to guide customers’ energy consumption decisions by providing understandable information to evaluate the energy efficiency of products. Over the last 20 years, China has implemented a series of mandatory and voluntary energy labeling and incentive policies to reduce energy use and improve the energy efficiency of durable goods in dwellings. This study has employed empirical survey data from the Chinese General Social Survey to study the implementation effectiveness of these policies and explore demographic factors behind consumer investments in energy-saving durables by using the logistic regression model. Statistical results show that energy efficiency labeling, incentive programs, education levels, and regional differences of customers appear to be strong predictors for investing in energy-efficient air conditioners and washing machines. House size is a decisive factor in driving consumers to choose energy-saving air conditioners. In light of the above results, the study suggests improved policy for motivating consumers to purchase energy-efficient appliances in dwellings.

The Impact of Perceived Value on Consumers’ Positive Word-of-mouth Intention Toward Energy-efficient Appliances

“…Previous studies focused exclusively on green satisfaction which failed to provide a comprehensive view of the impact of multiple value dimensions on consumers (Issock Issock et al, 2020). Furthermore, given that education level may influence consumers' environmental knowledge and environmental attitude (Li and Cao, 2021;Nguyen et al, 2019), this study looks at the notable variations between educational levels in terms of the effect of consumer perceived value dimensions on customer satisfaction as well as the effect of customer satisfaction on positive word-of-mouth intention. The following research questions will be addressed: RQ1: How do consumer perceived value dimensions (i.e., functional value, price value, environmental value, emotional value) foster customer satisfaction, which leads to positive wordof-mouth intention?…”

Energy conservation at home

“…Initiated by the U.S. EnergyGuide label in the 1980s, comparative energy labels 1 (hereinafter referred to as energy labels) have been adopted worldwide, which has become an important attribute considered by consumers (Zha et al, 2020) and led to more investments in energy-efficient appliances in different countries (Li & Cao, 2021;Schleich et al, 2021). Nevertheless, the design of energy labels has been improved till today.…”