IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v181y2023ics0301421523002781.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding domestic consumer attitude and behaviour towards energy: A study on the Island of Ireland

Author

Listed:
  • Brown, Alastair
  • Hampton, Harrison
  • Foley, Aoife
  • Furszyfer Del Rio, Dylan
  • Lowans, Christopher
  • Caulfield, Brian

Abstract

Attitudes towards renewable technologies and knowledge about energy consumption influences the adoption of sustainable energy systems across power, heat and transport. Research suggests that behavioural change strategies could accelerate the transition towards net-zero by reducing household energy consumption, increasing the uptake of energy efficient technologies and optimising consumption patterns. In tandem, emerging markets and business models facilitated by energy decentralisation and digitalisation give consumers more control over their home energy management and adopt more energy efficient behaviours. This empirical study seeks to determine the level of awareness of domestic consumers on the island of Ireland, which makes for an interesting case study due to the existence of a single electricity market with a dichotomic regulatory regime. This survey is critical to engineers, industry and other stakeholders in understanding the implications of climate policy aspirations and targets as society transitions towards carbon neutrality. A questionnaire was issued to a sample of 1,373 respondents in March 2022, facilitated by a third-party survey provider. The questionnaire had 40 questions composed of multiple-choice and single-answer format; questions covered participants’ sociodemographic attributes, their willingness to adopt new technologies and services and their eco-credentials. The results identify the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for householders to adopt more efficient household energy behaviours and attitudes towards smart energy technology and their carbon footprint. This study explores the emerging, yet significant role of domestic consumers in an equitable transition to a sustainable future.

Suggested Citation

  • Brown, Alastair & Hampton, Harrison & Foley, Aoife & Furszyfer Del Rio, Dylan & Lowans, Christopher & Caulfield, Brian, 2023. "Understanding domestic consumer attitude and behaviour towards energy: A study on the Island of Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:181:y:2023:i:c:s0301421523002781
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113693
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421523002781
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113693?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Watson, Nicole Elizabeth & Huebner, Gesche & Fell, Michael James & Shipworth, David, 2020. "Two energy suppliers are better than one: survey experiments on consumer engagement with local energy in GB," SocArXiv e9nyu, Center for Open Science.
    2. Eakins, John & Sirr, Gordon & Power, Bernadette, 2023. "Informally sourced solid fuel use: Examining its extent and characteristics of the users in the residential sector in Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    3. Benjamin K. Sovacool & Paul Upham & Mari Martiskainen & Kirsten E. H. Jenkins & Gerardo A. Torres Contreras & Neil Simcock, 2023. "Policy prescriptions to address energy and transport poverty in the United Kingdom," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 8(3), pages 273-283, March.
    4. Barrett, Michelle & Farrell, Niall & Roantree, Barra, 2022. "Energy poverty and deprivation in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS144.
    5. Lowans, Christopher & Foley, Aoife & Del Rio, Dylan Furszyfer & Caulfield, Brian & Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Griffiths, Steven & Rooney, David, 2023. "What causes energy and transport poverty in Ireland? Analysing demographic, economic, and social dynamics, and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    6. Faiers, Adam & Cook, Matt & Neame, Charles, 2007. "Towards a contemporary approach for understanding consumer behaviour in the context of domestic energy use," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 4381-4390, August.
    7. Yunusov, Timur & Torriti, Jacopo, 2021. "Distributional effects of Time of Use tariffs based on electricity demand and time use," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    8. Frederiks, Elisha R. & Stenner, Karen & Hobman, Elizabeth V., 2015. "Household energy use: Applying behavioural economics to understand consumer decision-making and behaviour," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1385-1394.
    9. Belton, Cameron A. & Lunn, Peter D., 2020. "Smart choices? An experimental study of smart meters and time-of-use tariffs in Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    10. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Martiskainen, Mari & Furszyfer Del Rio, Dylan D., 2021. "Knowledge, energy sustainability, and vulnerability in the demographics of smart home technology diffusion," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    11. Hampton, Harrison & Foley, Aoife M. & Del Rio, Dylan Furszyfer & Sovacool, Benjamin, 2022. "Developing future retail electricity markets with a customer-centric focus," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    12. Guomin Li & Wei Li & Zihan Jin & Zhihao Wang, 2019. "Influence of Environmental Concern and Knowledge on Households’ Willingness to Purchase Energy-Efficient Appliances: A Case Study in Shanxi, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, February.
    13. Guo, Zhifeng & O'Hanley, Jesse R. & Gibson, Stuart, 2022. "Predicting residential electricity consumption patterns based on smart meter and household data: A case study from the Republic of Ireland," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    14. Pillai, Arya & Tovar Reaños, Miguel & Curtis, John, 2021. "An examination of energy efficiency retrofit scheme applications by low-income households in Ireland," Papers WP700, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    15. Furszyfer Del Rio, Dylan D. & Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Bergman, Noam & Makuch, Karen E., 2020. "Critically reviewing smart home technology applications and business models in Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    16. Stawska, Anna & Romero, Natalia & de Weerdt, Mathijs & Verzijlbergh, Remco, 2021. "Demand response: For congestion management or for grid balancing?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(PA).
    17. Watson, Nicole E. & Huebner, Gesche M. & Fell, Michael J. & Shipworth, David, 2020. "Two energy suppliers are better than one: Survey experiments on consumer engagement with local energy in GB," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    18. Hansen, Kenneth & Breyer, Christian & Lund, Henrik, 2019. "Status and perspectives on 100% renewable energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 471-480.
    19. Meles, Tensay Hadush & Ryan, Lisa, 2022. "Adoption of renewable home heating systems: An agent-based model of heat pumps in Ireland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    20. Gaur, Ankita Singh & Fitiwi, Desta Z. & Lynch, Muireann & Longoria, Genaro, 2022. "Implications of heating sector electrification on the Irish power system in view of the Climate Action Plan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    21. Paul C. Stern & Kathryn B. Janda & Marilyn A. Brown & Linda Steg & Edward L. Vine & Loren Lutzenhiser, 2016. "Opportunities and insights for reducing fossil fuel consumption by households and organizations," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(5), pages 1-6, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Gang & Li, Zhao & Luo, Zhao & Zhang, Tao & Lin, Mingliang & Li, Jiahao & Shen, Xin, 2024. "Dynamic adaptive event detection strategy based on power change-point weighting model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 361(C).
    2. O'Donoghue, Cathal & Immervoll, Herwig & Gizem, Zeynep & Linden, Jules & Sologon, Denisa, 2024. "The distributional impact of carbon pricing and energy related taxation in Ireland," Papers BP2025/3, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Considine, Brian & Liu, Ying & McNabola, Aonghus, 2024. "Energy savings potential and life cycle costs of deep energy retrofits in buildings with and without habitable style loft attic conversions: A case study of Irelands residential sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    2. Gordon, Joel A. & Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye & Nabavi, Seyed Ali, 2023. "Price promises, trust deficits and energy justice: Public perceptions of hydrogen homes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    3. Erdogan, Murside Rabia & Camgoz, Selin Metin & Karan, Mehmet Baha & Berument, M. Hakan, 2022. "The switching behavior of large-scale electricity consumers in The Turkish electricity retail market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    4. Ilona Lipowska & Marcin Lipowski & Dariusz Dudek & Radosław Mącik, 2024. "Switching Behavior in the Polish Energy Market—The Importance of Resistance to Change," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-14, January.
    5. Stute, Judith & Klobasa, Marian, 2024. "How do dynamic electricity tariffs and different grid charge designs interact? - Implications for residential consumers and grid reinforcement requirements," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    6. Parag, Yael, 2021. "Which factors influence large households’ decision to join a time-of-use program? The interplay between demand flexibility, personal benefits and national benefits," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    7. Gordon, Joel A. & Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye & Nabavi, Seyed Ali, 2022. "Beyond the triangle of renewable energy acceptance: The five dimensions of domestic hydrogen acceptance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    8. Muhoza, Cassilde & Johnson, Oliver W., 2018. "Exploring household energy transitions in rural Zambia from the user perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 25-34.
    9. Massimo Dragotto & Marco Magnani & Paola Valbonesi, 2021. "Consumer inertia and firm incumbency in liberalised retail electricity markets: an empirical investigation," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0277, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".
    10. Brewer, Dylan, 2023. "Household responses to winter heating costs: Implications for energy pricing policies and demand-side alternatives," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    11. Niamir, Leila & Filatova, Tatiana & Voinov, Alexey & Bressers, Hans, 2018. "Transition to low-carbon economy: Assessing cumulative impacts of individual behavioral changes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 325-345.
    12. Große-Kreul, Felix, 2022. "What will drive household adoption of smart energy? Insights from a consumer acceptance study in Germany," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    13. Salite, Daniela & Miao, Ying & Turner, Ed & Feng, Yuan, 2024. "Assessing the adoption of sustainable heating technologies in the United Kingdom – A case study of socioeconomically deprived neighbourhoods of Nottingham city," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    14. Furszyfer Del Rio, D.D., 2022. "Smart but unfriendly: Connected home products as enablers of conflict," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    15. Spandagos, Constantine & Ng, Tze Ling, 2018. "Fuzzy model of residential energy decision-making considering behavioral economic concepts," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 611-625.
    16. Wong, Pui Ting & Rau, Henrike, 2023. "Time of Use tariffs, childcare and everyday temporalities in the US and China: Evidence from time-use and sequence-network analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    17. Muhammad Rizwan Ali & Muhammad Shafiq & Murad Andejany, 2021. "Determinants of Consumers’ Intentions towards the Purchase of Energy Efficient Appliances in Pakistan: An Extended Model of the Theory of Planned Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-17, January.
    18. Peacock, Malcolm & Fragaki, Aikaterini & Matuszewski, Bogdan J, 2023. "The impact of heat electrification on the seasonal and interannual electricity demand of Great Britain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 337(C).
    19. Lund, Henrik & Thellufsen, Jakob Zinck & Sorknæs, Peter & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Chang, Miguel & Madsen, Poul Thøis & Kany, Mikkel Strunge & Skov, Iva Ridjan, 2022. "Smart energy Denmark. A consistent and detailed strategy for a fully decarbonized society," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    20. Javier Borquez & Hector Chavez & Karina A. Barbosa & Marcela Jamett & Rodrigo Acuna, 2020. "A Simple Distribution Energy Tariff under the Penetration of DG," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-17, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:181:y:2023:i:c:s0301421523002781. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.