Drivers of consumers' change to an energy-efficient heating appliance (EEHA) in households: Evidence from five European countries

Residential buildings are significant contributors to global energy consumption. Hence, numerous articles have studied occupants' energy behaviors to promote households' change toward energy efficiency. However, the drivers of these behaviors, analyzed in a unified view of several perspectives, have not been fully explored in the literature. Moreover, the intention to adopt an energy-efficient heating appliance (EEHA) has never been investigated in order to understand what drives people to change their current appliances. To fill this gap, our work gathers six relevant contexts (triggers, barriers, engagement, house characteristics, co-benefits, and communication channels) to predict behavior change (both attitude on heating equipment use and intention to change to an EEHA). We tested our model based on a sample of 1611 observations collected in five European countries, using structural equation modeling. Our work reveals the significance of energy efficiency and labeling as motivations, and operation and maintenance as barriers. Co-benefits and communication channels also greatly affect consumer behavior intention, namely organizational and web media channels. Our results also emphasize the importance of consumer engagement in the topic of energy, being the strongest effect on behavior intention. These findings have practical implications for both energy and governmental organizations to increase households' energy efficiency.

Automated summary

This study used structural equation modeling to examine 1611 sample observations gathered from five European countries. Results show that energy efficiency and labeling play significant roles as motivations for consumers, while operation and maintenance may act as barriers for adopting energy-efficient heating appliances. Additionally, co-benefits and communication channels also have important effects on consumer behavior intention.