IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v95y2016icp52-60.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Influencing the central heating technologies installed in homes: The role of social capital in supply chain networks

Author

Listed:
  • Wade, Faye
  • Shipworth, Michelle
  • Hitchings, Russell

Abstract

The likely installation of, and potential energy savings from, low carbon technologies in domestic buildings is not only dependent on those who fit them, but also the broader supply chains of which they are part. Despite this, the role of supply chain actors has been largely overlooked in strategies seeking to encourage the installation of more sustainable domestic heating technologies. With reference to central heating, this paper responds through an ethnographic analysis of how plumbers' merchants and sales representatives can influence the work of heating installers in the United Kingdom. It applies two dimensions of the concept of ‘social capital’: relational and structural. Relational social capital focuses on the trust, loyalty and reciprocity at play in relations, whilst structural social capital considers how the strength of tie can influence those to whom people turn for advice and support. Together, these ideas demonstrate how relationships amongst these groups can serve to influence product choice and facilitate information exchange. The paper concludes by discussing how these supply chains might be engaged with as a means of encouraging the installation of low carbon domestic technologies.

Suggested Citation

  • Wade, Faye & Shipworth, Michelle & Hitchings, Russell, 2016. "Influencing the central heating technologies installed in homes: The role of social capital in supply chain networks," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 52-60.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:95:y:2016:i:c:p:52-60
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2016.04.033
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421516302026
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2016.04.033?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. McMichael, Megan & Shipworth, David, 2013. "The value of social networks in the diffusion of energy-efficiency innovations in UK households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 159-168.
    2. Owen, A. & Mitchell, G. & Gouldson, A., 2014. "Unseen influence—The role of low carbon retrofit advisers and installers in the adoption and use of domestic energy technology," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 169-179.
    3. Killip, Gavin, 2013. "Products, practices and processes: exploring the innovation potential for low-carbon housing refurbishment among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK construction industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 522-530.
    4. Daniel Z. Levin & Rob Cross, 2004. "The Strength of Weak Ties You Can Trust: The Mediating Role of Trust in Effective Knowledge Transfer," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(11), pages 1477-1490, November.
    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. Kerr, N. & Winskel, M., 2020. "Household investment in home energy retrofit: A review of the evidence on effective public policy design for privately owned homes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    2. Alice Owen & Alison Heppenstall, 2020. "Making the case for simulation: Unlocking carbon reduction through simulation of individual ‘middle actor’ behaviour," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(3), pages 457-472, March.
    3. Li, Hao & Wang, Zhao-Hua & Zhang, Bin, 2023. "How social interaction induce energy-saving behaviors in buildings: Interpersonal & passive interactions v.s. public & active interactions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    4. Murto, Pekka & Jalas, Mikko & Juntunen, Jouni & Hyysalo, Sampsa, 2019. "The difficult process of adopting a comprehensive energy retrofit in housing companies: Barriers posed by nascent markets and complicated calculability," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 955-964.
    5. Killip, Gavin & Owen, Alice, 2020. "The construction industry as agents of energy demand configuration in the existing housing stock," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    6. Sonja Oliveira & Elena Marco, 2018. "Role of ‘Community Spaces’ in Residents’ Adaptation to Energy-Efficient Heating Technologies—Insights from a UK Low-Energy Housing Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-15, March.

    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. O’Keeffe, Juliette M. & Gilmour, Daniel & Simpson, Edward, 2016. "A network approach to overcoming barriers to market engagement for SMEs in energy efficiency initiatives such as the Green Deal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 582-590.
    2. Sam Hampton, 2018. "‘It’s the soft stuff that’s hard’: Investigating the role played by low carbon small- and medium-sized enterprise advisors in sustainability transitions," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 33(4), pages 384-404, June.
    3. Sonja Oliveira & Elena Marco, 2018. "Role of ‘Community Spaces’ in Residents’ Adaptation to Energy-Efficient Heating Technologies—Insights from a UK Low-Energy Housing Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-15, March.
    4. Owen, A. & Mitchell, G. & Gouldson, A., 2014. "Unseen influence—The role of low carbon retrofit advisers and installers in the adoption and use of domestic energy technology," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 169-179.
    5. Alice Owen & Alison Heppenstall, 2020. "Making the case for simulation: Unlocking carbon reduction through simulation of individual ‘middle actor’ behaviour," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(3), pages 457-472, March.
    6. Kerr, N. & Winskel, M., 2020. "Household investment in home energy retrofit: A review of the evidence on effective public policy design for privately owned homes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    7. Daly, Daniel & Carr, Chantel & Daly, Matthew & McGuirk, Pauline & Stanes, Elyse & Santala, Inka, 2023. "Extending urban energy transitions to the mid-tier: Insights into energy efficiency from the management of HVAC maintenance in ‘mid-tier’ office buildings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    8. Killip, Gavin & Owen, Alice, 2020. "The construction industry as agents of energy demand configuration in the existing housing stock," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    9. Nault, Kelly A. & Sezer, Ovul & Klein, Nadav, 2023. "It’s the journey, not just the destination: Conveying interpersonal warmth in written introductions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    10. M. Max Evans & Ilja Frissen & Anthony K. P. Wensley, 2018. "Organisational Information and Knowledge Sharing: Uncovering Mediating Effects of Perceived Trustworthiness Using the PROCESS Approach," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(01), pages 1-29, March.
    11. Bardsley, Nicholas & Büchs, Milena & James, Patrick & Papafragkou, Anastasios & Rushby, Thomas & Saunders, Clare & Smith, Graham & Wallbridge, Rebecca & Woodman, Nicholas, 2019. "Domestic thermal upgrades, community action and energy saving: A three-year experimental study of prosperous households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 475-485.
    12. Boeker, Warren & Howard, Michael D. & Basu, Sandip & Sahaym, Arvin, 2021. "Interpersonal relationships, digital technologies, and innovation in entrepreneurial ventures," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 495-507.
    13. Wang, Le & Luo, Xin (Robert) & Li, Han, 2022. "Envy or conformity? An empirical investigation of peer influence on the purchase of non-functional items in mobile free-to-play games," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 308-324.
    14. Shigeno, Hidenori & Matsuzaki, Taisuke & Ueki, Yasushi & Tsuji, Masatsugu, 2023. "The Effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Innovation Process of Small and Medium-sized Regional Firms," 32nd European Regional ITS Conference, Madrid 2023: Realising the digital decade in the European Union – Easier said than done? 278018, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    15. Dalia Streimikiene & Tomas Balezentis, 2020. "Willingness to Pay for Renovation of Multi-Flat Buildings and to Share the Costs of Renovation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-16, May.
    16. Xin Liu & Lin Zhang & Abhinav Gupta & Xiaoming Zheng & Changqi Wu, 2022. "Upper echelons and intra‐organizational learning: How executive narcissism affects knowledge transfer among business units," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(11), pages 2351-2381, November.
    17. Hangeun Lee & Seong Ho Lee, 2019. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Long-Term Relationships in the Business-to-Business Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-12, September.
    18. Yildiz, H. Emre, 2016. "“Us vs. them” or “us over them”? On the roles of similarity and status in M&As," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 51-65.
    19. Feser, Daniel & Runst, Petrik, 2016. "Energy efficiency consultants as change agents? Examining the reasons for EECs’ limited success," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 309-317.
    20. Deist, Maximilian K. & McDowell, William C. & Bouncken, Ricarda B., 2023. "Digital units and digital innovation: Balancing fluidity and stability for the Creation, Conversion, and Dissemination of sticky knowledge," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).

    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:95:y:2016:i:c:p:52-60. 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.