IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ris/fcnwpa/2017_017.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Individual Drivers for Direct and Indirect Rebound Effects: A Survey Study of Electric Vehicles and Building Insulation in Austria

Author

Listed:

Abstract

Rebound effects may undermine current energy policy pathways centred on more energy efficient technologies. The present study analyses why household-level rebound occurs after purchasing an electric vehicle or installing building insulation. Direct and indirect rebound behaviour are operationalised as rearrangements of consumption patterns over time, drawing on concepts of mental accounting and compensatory behaviours. Structural equation modelling is applied to survey data on adopters of electric cars (n=575) and building insulation (n=1,455) in Austria. A complementary longitudinal sample of adopters of electric bicycles (n=111) validates the findings. Pro-environmental values and, albeit more weakly, personal norms for environmentally conscious consumption counteract rebound behaviour. Social norms for environmentally conscious consumption increase rebound. Values of frugality and modesty show no discernible impact. These drivers apply similarly to all energy efficiency technologies investigated. In the case of building insulation, low-income and energy-poor households are more liable to rebound; moreover, habitual heating practices increase rebound. Policy design could leverage the drivers studied here to combat rebound, for instance by prioritising consumer segments with a lower risk of rebound, or by supporting rebound-averse mindsets in public communication. Future research should conduct longitudinal studies to strengthen causal inferences about changes in consumption patterns over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Seebauer, Sebastian, 2017. "Individual Drivers for Direct and Indirect Rebound Effects: A Survey Study of Electric Vehicles and Building Insulation in Austria," FCN Working Papers 17/2017, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:fcnwpa:2017_017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.fcn.eonerc.rwth-aachen.de/global/show_document.asp?id=aaaaaaaaaayfkxh
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Font Vivanco, David & Kemp, René & van der Voet, Ester, 2016. "How to deal with the rebound effect? A policy-oriented approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 114-125.
    2. Seebauer, Sebastian, 2015. "Why early adopters engage in interpersonal diffusion of technological innovations: An empirical study on electric bicycles and electric scooters," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 146-160.
    3. Tiefenbeck, Verena & Staake, Thorsten & Roth, Kurt & Sachs, Olga, 2013. "For better or for worse? Empirical evidence of moral licensing in a behavioral energy conservation campaign," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 160-171.
    4. Kenneth Gillingham & David Rapson & Gernot Wagner, 2016. "The Rebound Effect and Energy Efficiency Policy," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 10(1), pages 68-88.
    5. Stapleton, Lee & Sorrell, Steve & Schwanen, Tim, 2016. "Estimating direct rebound effects for personal automotive travel in Great Britain," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 313-325.
    6. Martina Schäfer & Melanie Jaeger-Erben & Sebastian Bamberg, 2012. "Life Events as Windows of Opportunity for Changing Towards Sustainable Consumption Patterns?," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 65-84, March.
    7. Galvin, Ray, 2014. "Estimating broad-brush rebound effects for household energy consumption in the EU 28 countries and Norway: some policy implications of Odyssee data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 323-332.
    8. Lucas W. Davis & Alan Fuchs & Paul Gertler, 2014. "Cash for Coolers: Evaluating a Large-Scale Appliance Replacement Program in Mexico," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 207-238, November.
    9. Matiaske, Wenzel & Menges, Roland & Spiess, Martin, 2012. "Modifying the rebound: It depends! Explaining mobility behavior on the basis of the German socio-economic panel," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 29-35.
    10. Wolf, Angelika & Seebauer, Sebastian, 2014. "Technology adoption of electric bicycles: A survey among early adopters," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 196-211.
    11. Chitnis, Mona & Sorrell, Steve & Druckman, Angela & Firth, Steven K. & Jackson, Tim, 2013. "Turning lights into flights: Estimating direct and indirect rebound effects for UK households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 234-250.
    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. Pereira, Guillermo Ivan & Specht, Jan Martin & Silva, Patrícia Pereira & Madlener, Reinhard, 2018. "Technology, business model, and market design adaptation toward smart electricity distribution: Insights for policy making," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 426-440.
    2. Heesen, Florian & Madlener, Reinhard, 2021. "Revisiting heat energy consumption modeling: Household production theory applied to field experimental data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    3. Specht, Jan Martin & Madlener, Reinhard, 2018. "Business Models for Energy Suppliers Aggregating Flexible Distributed Assets and Policy Issues Raised," FCN Working Papers 7/2018, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).

    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. Miriam Berretta & Joshua Furgeson & Yue (Nicole) Wu & Collins Zamawe & Ian Hamilton & John Eyers, 2021. "Residential energy efficiency interventions: A meta‐analysis of effectiveness studies," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), December.
    2. David Font Vivanco & Serenella Sala & Will McDowall, 2018. "Roadmap to Rebound: How to Address Rebound Effects from Resource Efficiency Policy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-17, June.
    3. Ensieh Shojaeddini & Ben Gilbert, 2023. "Heterogeneity in the Rebound Effect: Evidence from Efficient Lighting Subsidies," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(1), pages 173-217, January.
    4. Wen, Fenghua & Ye, Zhengke & Yang, Huaidong & Li, Ke, 2018. "Exploring the rebound effect from the perspective of household: An analysis of China's provincial level," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 345-356.
    5. Dimitropoulos, Alexandros & Oueslati, Walid & Sintek, Christina, 2018. "The rebound effect in road transport: A meta-analysis of empirical studies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 163-179.
    6. Inoue, Nozomu & Matsumoto, Shigeru, 2019. "An examination of losses in energy savings after the Japanese Top Runner Program?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 312-319.
    7. Liang, Jing & Qiu, Yueming (Lucy) & Xing, Bo, 2022. "Impacts of the co-adoption of electric vehicles and solar panel systems: Empirical evidence of changes in electricity demand and consumer behaviors from household smart meter data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    8. Kenichi Mizobuchi & Kenji Takeuchi, 2019. "Rebound effect across seasons: evidence from the replacement of air conditioners in Japan," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 21(1), pages 123-140, January.
    9. Font Vivanco, David & Nechifor, Victor & Freire-González, Jaume & Calzadilla, Alvaro, 2021. "Economy-wide rebound makes UK’s electric car subsidy fall short of expectations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    10. Kulmer, Veronika & Seebauer, Sebastian, 2019. "How robust are estimates of the rebound effect of energy efficiency improvements? A sensitivity analysis of consumer heterogeneity and elasticities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1-14.
    11. Chen, Zhenni & Du, Huibin & Li, Jianglong & Southworth, Frank & Ma, Shoufeng, 2019. "Achieving low-carbon urban passenger transport in China: Insights from the heterogeneous rebound effect," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1029-1041.
    12. David Font Vivanco & Jaume Freire‐González & Ray Galvin & Tilman Santarius & Hans Jakob Walnum & Tamar Makov & Serenella Sala, 2022. "Rebound effect and sustainability science: A review," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(4), pages 1543-1563, August.
    13. Ohler, Adrienne M. & Loomis, David G. & Ilves, Kadi, 2020. "A study of electricity savings from energy star appliances using household survey data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    14. Alan Kabanshi, 2020. "Are We Overestimating the Benefits of Emission Reduction Measures?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-9, January.
    15. Wu, Kuei-Yen & Wu, Jung-Hua & Huang, Yun-Hsun & Fu, Szu-Chi & Chen, Chia-Yon, 2016. "Estimating direct and indirect rebound effects by supply-driven input-output model: A case study of Taiwan's industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(P1), pages 904-913.
    16. Synek, Stefan & Koenigstorfer, Joerg, 2018. "Exploring adoption determinants of tax-subsidized company-leasing bicycles from the perspective of German employers and employees," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 238-260.
    17. Ouyang, Xiaoling & Gao, Beiying & Du, Kerui & Du, Gang, 2018. "Industrial sectors' energy rebound effect: An empirical study of Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 408-416.
    18. Rabindra Nepal & Muhammad Indra al Irsyad & Tooraj Jamasb, 2021. "Sectoral Electricity Demand and Direct Rebound Effects inNew Zealand," The Energy Journal, , vol. 42(4), pages 153-174, July.
    19. Thomas, Alainna, 2016. "A More Sustainable Minivan? An Exploratory Study of Electric Bicycle Use by San Francisco Bay Area Families," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt6g79m3xx, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    20. Liu, Hongxun & Du, Kerui & Li, Jianglong, 2019. "An improved approach to estimate direct rebound effect by incorporating energy efficiency: A revisit of China's industrial energy demand," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 720-730.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Rebound effect; technology adoption; behavioural change; negative spillover; moral licensing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ris:fcnwpa:2017_017. 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: Hendrik Schmitz (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fceonde.html .

    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.