Electricity awareness and consumer demand for information

Abstract

With the envisioned growth in the residential electricity demand and increased share of intermittent renewables in the supply mix, consumers will need to be better informed about their electricity consumption and to play an active role in managing their electricity use. However, consumer inattention and lack of information are ubiquitous, especially in household energy‐related settings. Thus, using a novel survey and actual monthly electricity consumption data, this study set out to measure the level of awareness about electricity bills, prices and costs among some Finnish households—as captured by the answers to six questions—and to investigate whether higher levels of “electricity awareness” are associated with electricity savings. In addition, this study analyses the willingness to receive extra information about energy consumption and savings and how it differs between “electricity aware” and “electricity unaware” respondents. The results indicate low levels of “electricity awareness” among the respondents of the survey. Compared to the respondents with little knowledge about electricity bills, prices and costs, the respondents with higher levels of “electricity awareness” tend to consume less electricity. Higher levels of awareness about electricity use and consumption might “materialize” inconspicuous consumption patterns, as opposed to more general facts about the largely invisible environmental consequences of everyday practices. More than two‐thirds of the total number of respondents would like to receive additional information about energy consumption and how to save energy. However, there exists a significant portion of “electricity unaware” respondents who are not only unwilling to receive such information, but are also unaware of their own knowledge deficits. To maximize the impact of any information strategy, decision makers should attempt to engage with this type of consumer; by becoming more aware of their knowledge deficits, people might become more receptive to information that can benefit them.

Heterogeneity of Electricity Consumption Patterns in Vulnerable Households

“…This could potentially minimize misperceptions about actual financial savings/losses compared to the perceived financial savings/losses and could facilitate optimal (rather than heuristic) decision-making [73]. In addition, by enhancing consumer learning and attention, information provision and awareness about electricity consumption, bills, and tariffs have been shown to increase the price elasticity of demand and to reduce electricity demand [74][75][76][77]. However, a UK study found that [78], even when presented with complete information, many consumers (especially those in the lower socio-economic grades) were affected by bounded 'rationality' and were unable to optimize over their electricity tariff.…”

The relative importance of household norms for energy efficient behavior

“…As Sardianou (2007, p. 3784) observed, “energy conscious attitudes do not always lead to conserving behavior”. More recently Trotta (2020) found no relationship between pro‐environmental behavior and energy‐saving behaviors, suggesting that it was financial rather than altruistic motives that influenced household efficiency. Nonetheless, the weight of evidence and intuition suggest that environmentally conscious behaviors will have a relationship with curtailment and investment behavior.…”

“…Studies of household electricity efficiency often try to explain efficiency outcomes, but without considering the effect of interactions between household members (e.g., Dursun et al., 2019; Trotta, 2020). There is, however, growing evidence that interactions within households may influence a range of important environmental outcomes.…”

Analyzing the role of values, beliefs and attitude in developing sustainable behavioral intentions: empirical evidence from electric power industry

“…The increased wastage of electricity at households arose the importance of electricity consumption behavior, which may significantly impact electricity use and its conservation to overcome its wastage (Trotta, 2021). The mounting research on consumer behavior towards energy conservation gradually improves the understanding to overcome the issue of energy shortage.…”

“…However, consumer behavior is complex and challenging to predict accurately (Khan, Ahmed & Najmi, 2019). Scholars have suggested that multiple unknown reasons can instigate electricity conservation, highlighting the need for appropriate theoretical frameworks to uncover these reasons behind such complex consumption behavior (Thøgersen, 2021;Trotta, 2021). The plethora of previous research on the subject notwithstanding, a need is still felt for further exploration into normative and psychological factors related to behavioral intentions.…”