IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v39y2011i11p7335-7346.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy efficiency and appliance purchases in Europe: Consumer profiles and choice determinants

Author

Listed:
  • Gaspar, Rui
  • Antunes, Dalila

Abstract

This study seeks to the following: (1) understand the factors/characteristics typically considered when purchasing electrical appliances, (2) analyse the differences between consumer profiles regarding these and (3) understand the factors driving the consideration of energy efficiency class by purchasers. Results indicate a preference for first considering cost, followed by quality and energy consumption considerations. These are correlated positively with the consideration of energy efficiency class in consumer choices. Also, regression analysis shows environmental attitudes to be negative predictors of energy efficiency class consideration, while specific environmental behaviours were positive predictors. Finally, consumer profiles were identified based on gender, age and whether or not the purchaser was accompanied when decisions were made. Implications for retail employee training and the development of persuasive messages for consumers based on established profiles are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Gaspar, Rui & Antunes, Dalila, 2011. "Energy efficiency and appliance purchases in Europe: Consumer profiles and choice determinants," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7335-7346.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:39:y:2011:i:11:p:7335-7346
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2011.08.057
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421511006549
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2011.08.057?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. Anderson, C Dennis & Claxton, John D, 1982. "Barriers to Consumer Choice of Energy Efficient Products," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 9(2), pages 163-170, September.
    2. Young, Denise, 2008. "When do energy-efficient appliances generate energy savings? Some evidence from Canada," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 34-46, January.
    3. Richard Ball & Ross Cullen & Christopher Gan, 1999. "The diffusion of energy efficiency innovations among residential energy consumers," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(1), pages 115-135.
    4. Banerjee, Abhijit & Solomon, Barry D., 2003. "Eco-labeling for energy efficiency and sustainability: a meta-evaluation of US programs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 109-123, January.
    5. Yamamoto, Yoshihiro & Suzuki, Akihiko & Fuwa, Yasuhiro & Sato, Tomohiro, 2008. "Decision-making in electrical appliance use in the home," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 1679-1686, May.
    6. Kim, Hyung Chul & Keoleian, Gregory A. & Horie, Yuhta A., 2006. "Optimal household refrigerator replacement policy for life cycle energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and cost," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(15), pages 2310-2323, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Zeng, Lei & Yu, Yang & Li, Jiayang, 2014. "China’s Promoting Energy-Efficient Products for the Benefit of the People Program in 2012: Results and analysis of the consumer impact study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 22-32.
    2. Karunathilake, Hirushie & Hewage, Kasun & Sadiq, Rehan, 2018. "Opportunities and challenges in energy demand reduction for Canadian residential sector: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2005-2016.
    3. Ward, David O. & Clark, Christopher D. & Jensen, Kimberly L. & Yen, Steven T. & Russell, Clifford S., 2011. "Factors influencing willingness-to-pay for the ENERGY STAR® label," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1450-1458, March.
    4. Stefanie Heinzle, 2012. "Disclosure of Energy Operating Cost Information: A Silver Bullet for Overcoming the Energy-Efficiency Gap?," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 43-64, March.
    5. Mills, Bradford & Schleich, Joachim, 2012. "Residential energy-efficient technology adoption, energy conservation, knowledge, and attitudes: An analysis of European countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 616-628.
    6. Asinyaka Michael, 2019. "Willingness to Pay for Energy Efficient Refrigerating Appliances in Accra, Ghana: A Choice Experiment Approach," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 70(1), pages 15-39, April.
    7. Panzone, Luca A., 2013. "Saving money vs investing money: Do energy ratings influence consumer demand for energy efficient goods?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 51-63.
    8. Cristiano Codagnone & Giuseppe Alessandro Veltri & Francesco Bogliacino & Francisco Lupiáñez-Villanueva & George Gaskell & Andriy Ivchenko & Pietro Ortoleva & Francesco Mureddu, 2016. "Labels as nudges? An experimental study of car eco-labels," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 33(3), pages 403-432, December.
    9. Gholam Reza Zandi & Nadeem Khalid & Dewan Md. Zahurul Islam, 2019. "Nexus of Knowledge Transfer, Green Innovation and Environmental Performance: Impact of Environmental Management Accounting," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(5), pages 387-393.
    10. Gonçalves, Helena Martins & Lourenço, Tiago Ferreira & Silva, Graça Miranda, 2016. "Green buying behavior and the theory of consumption values: A fuzzy-set approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 1484-1491.
    11. Yokessa, Maïmouna & Marette, Stéphan, 2019. "A Review of Eco-labels and their Economic Impact," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 13(1-2), pages 119-163, April.
    12. Joana Costa, 2021. "Carrots or Sticks: Which Policies Matter the Most in Sustainable Resource Management?," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-21, February.
    13. Salies, Evens, 2013. "Real-time pricing when some consumers resist in saving electricity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 843-849.
    14. Schleich, Joachim & Gassmann, Xavier & Faure, Corinne & Meissner, Thomas, 2016. "Making the implicit explicit: A look inside the implicit discount rate," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 321-331.
    15. Pedro Linares & Xavier Labandeira, 2010. "Energy Efficiency: Economics And Policy," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 573-592, July.
    16. Galarraga, Ibon & González-Eguino, Mikel & Markandya, Anil, 2011. "Willingness to pay and price elasticities of demand for energy-efficient appliances: Combining the hedonic approach and demand systems," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(S1), pages 66-74.
    17. Howden-Chapman, Philippa & Viggers, Helen & Chapman, Ralph & O'Dea, Des & Free, Sarah & O'Sullivan, Kimberley, 2009. "Warm homes: Drivers of the demand for heating in the residential sector in New Zealand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3387-3399, September.
    18. Herbes, Carsten & Ramme, Iris, 2014. "Online marketing of green electricity in Germany—A content analysis of providers’ websites," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 257-266.
    19. Swan, Lukas G. & Ugursal, V. Ismet, 2009. "Modeling of end-use energy consumption in the residential sector: A review of modeling techniques," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(8), pages 1819-1835, October.
    20. Schlereth, Christian & Skiera, Bernd & Schulz, Fabian, 2018. "Why do consumers prefer static instead of dynamic pricing plans? An empirical study for a better understanding of the low preferences for time-variant pricing plans," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 269(3), pages 1165-1179.

    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:39:y:2011:i:11:p:7335-7346. 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.