Navigating behavioral energy sufficiency. Results from a survey in Swiss cities on potential behavior change

Scarcity of resources and their waste, as well as deteriorating quality of life and the environment, are pressing problems of modern civilisations. Rational and efficient energy consumption is one of the possibilities for preventing harmful practices and the degradation of ecosystems. Understanding the consumer’s way of thinking and acting by identifying his needs and preferences are essential for effective efforts for smart, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth. Therefore, the aim of this article was a comprehensive socioeconomic analysis of particular behavioural types of energy consumers, as a continuation of the authors’ previous research. The paper uses statistical methods (chi-square test and correspondence analysis) dedicated to non-metric variables for an effective analysis of the data obtained from the questionnaires. The identification of socioeconomic factors was carried out on a representative sample of n = 4506 respondents from eight European countries (the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania, and the United Kingdom). This allowed for distinguishing a typical representative of five consumer segments (EI; AE; DS; O; I), developed on the basis of motivation to save energy. The authors succeeded in combining behavioural segmentation with the socioeconomic characteristics of the created classes. The results indicated that 10 out of 12 examined factors were significantly correlated with the behavioural type. These are (in order of significance): attitude towards saving energy; age; employment status; home country; the ownership status of the premises; the number of people in a household; average monthly income per person in a household; education; gender and place of residence.

show abstract

“…• focus on the reasons, conditions, and motivations for taking or not taking actions aimed at saving energy [61,62,69,82,90,91].…”

Section: Segmentation Of Energy Consumers Focused On Their Willingness To Save Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

Are You a Typical Energy Consumer? Socioeconomic Characteristics of Behavioural Segmentation Representatives of 8 European Countries

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, there is also a stream of literature that reports reverse findings (Truelove et al, 2014), i.e., an increase in conservation behavior. If this increase in conservation occurs in the same domain, this is called sufficiency behavior (Seidl et al, 2017). If it occurs in a different domain, the term positive spillover is applied.…”

Section: Definition and Differentiation Of Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moral Licensing—Another Source of Rebound?

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The rebound effect denotes an offset in energy savings that occurs when an individual increases consumption of a good or service following an increase in its efficiency. It has both economic and psychological underpinnings: In addition to the price, income and substitution effects emphasized by economists, psychologists point to the influence of moral licensing, the cognitive process by which individuals justify immoral behavior (e.g., driving more) by having previously engaged in moral behavior (e.g., purchasing a more efficient car). The present review article provides a conceptual and empirical overview of moral licensing, drawing comparisons with economic explanations for the rebound effect. Based on a unifying theoretical model that illustrates how economic and psychological motivations trigger both rebound and moral licensing effects, as well as a review of microeconometric and experimental evidence, we conclude that consideration of moral licensing is warranted for judging the efficacy of policies targeted at energy consumption and the rebound effect.

show abstract

“…This has led to the development of a 'double dividend' argument for distributed generation. Adopters not only generate energy, but may also engage in conservation (Truelove et al 2014) or 'sufficiency' behavior (Seidl et al 2017), reducing consumption upon installation.…”

Section: Further Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microeconomics of the Rebound Effect for Residential Solar Photovoltaic Systems

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The rebound effect is a well-known behavioral response whereby potential energy savings from efficiency improvements are partially offset by increased consumption of energy services, as the marginal cost of energy services is reduced. This paper characterizes a similar rebound effect related to installation and operation of a residential photovoltaic (PV) system. This solar rebound effect is different from traditionally studied rebound effects, primarily because it is due not to an improvement in the energy efficiency of a household's appliances, but to the supply of a zero-marginal-cost perfect substitute for grid electricity. The solar rebound effect is first derived in the absence of any subsidization mechanism. We then modify the model to account for two commonly implemented incentives: installation rebates and net metering. Rebates are shown to increase the rebound effect, whereas the effect of net metering depends on the per-unit compensation rate.

show abstract

Navigating behavioral energy sufficiency. Results from a survey in Swiss cities on potential behavior change

Cited by 19 publications

References 50 publications

Are You a Typical Energy Consumer? Socioeconomic Characteristics of Behavioural Segmentation Representatives of 8 European Countries

Are You a Typical Energy Consumer? Socioeconomic Characteristics of Behavioural Segmentation Representatives of 8 European Countries

Moral Licensing—Another Source of Rebound?

Microeconomics of the Rebound Effect for Residential Solar Photovoltaic Systems

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About