Exploring Individual‐Level Factors Related to Employee Energy‐Conservation Behaviors at Work¹

Abstract

The higher costs of energy have increased organizations' interest in searching for ways to reduce energy use. Typically, organizations have utilized structural or operational changes to decrease their energy use. Another approach involves the energy-conservation behaviors of an organization's employees. Drawing on valuebelief-norm theory (Stern, 2000b), we examined the individual-level factors related to energy-conservation behaviors at work among employees of a large state university. Using path analysis, we found that environmental personal norms predicted self-reported energy-conservation behaviors, as well as behavioral intentions. Environmental personal norms also mediated the relationship of environmental worldviews with self-reported energy-conservation behaviors, as well as behavioral intentions. Implications for theory and organizational energy-conservation interventions are discussed.Energy use and energy conservation have become topics of increasing national interest and debate in the United States and worldwide. The proliferation of energy-consuming technologies (e.g., climate-control systems, personal computers) has resulted in substantial escalations in energy use and dependence. Correspondingly, the costs of energy have risen, and energy supplies have become less stable. These opposing forces are having an impact on the economic viability of many organizations, both large and small. For example, the blackouts and high prices of energy in places such as California and New York have dramatically affected the ability of many organizations to compete profitably or even to remain in certain markets. These higher costs of doing business have prompted an elevated interest in strategies to 1 An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 17 th annual conference

A Review of Approaches for Sensing, Understanding, and Improving Occupancy-Related Energy-Use Behaviors in Commercial Buildings

“…However, sharing energy-consumption information with direct energy and/or environmental externality units has been shown to improve energy saving behaviors in the commercial sector [28,117,132,141]. In fact, commercial building occupants who are aware of their ecological consequences are more likely to improve their behaviors [142,143].…”

Heritage tourism, CSR and the role of employee environmental behaviour

“…Individual factors which have been studied include attitudes and beliefs (Jones, 2010;Chun, Shin, Choi & Kim, 2013;Manika, Wells, Gregory-Smith & Gentry, 2014), norms (Scherbaum, Popovich & Finlinson, 2008;Carrico & Riemer, 2011), self-efficacy (Smith & O'Sullivan, 2012), habit (Siero et al, 1996), motivation (Lee, De Young & Marans, 1995;Tudor, Barr & Gilg, 2008), knowledge (Siero et al, 1984) and socio-demographics (Wehrmeyer & McNeil, 2000). The most comprehensive study of employee environmental behaviour within the tourism literature focused on individual (individual environmental beliefs, personal environmental norms, self-reported environmental behaviour) and organisational variables (green organisational climate) as well as demographics to explain employee behaviour (Chou, 2014).…”

The Impact of Individual Attitudinal and Organisational Variables on Workplace Environmentally Friendly Behaviours

“…Studies in the employee environmental literature have largely focused on waste management/recycling (Marans and Lee, 1993;Ludwig et al, 1998;Tudor et al, 2007Tudor et al, , 2008McDonald, 2011), though studies have also examined climate control, lights, computer and printer use, private electric appliances, driving behavior, and energy use, to name a few (Siero et al, 1989;Scherbaum et al, 2008;Carrico and Riemer 2011;Lo et al 2012b). In this study, we focus on three of the most commonly studied environmental behaviors in the workplace: recycling, energy savings, and printing reduction.…”

“…In the employee environmental behavior literature, some studies have used the environmental/ecological worldview as a predictor of behavior (e.g., Scherbaum et al, 2008), while others have incorporated beliefs into their measurement of attitudes (Wehrmeyer and McNeil, 2000;Tudor et al, 2007Tudor et al, , 2008. Although many studies have used attitudes to predict employee environmental behavior, each study takes a different approach to defining and measuring attitudes, making it difficult to compare findings directly.…”

“…Finally, they highlight the importance of organizational structure and, in particular, how it facilitates individual behavior, decision making, and feedback up the hierarchical chain, thus affecting employees' motivation and behavior. Scherbaum et al (2008) also contend that organizational structures, policies, interventions, and characteristics can facilitate or inhibit desired energy-use behaviors within organizations and must be taken into consideration.…”