IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/fisisi/s12009.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

What's driving energy efficient appliance label awareness and purchase propensity?

Author

Listed:
  • Mills, Bradford F.
  • Schleich, Joachim

Abstract

The EU appliance energy consumption labeling scheme is a key component of efforts to increase the diffusion of energy-efficient household appliances. In this paper, the determinants of consumer knowledge of the energy label for house-hold appliances and the choice of class-A energy-efficient appliances are jointly estimated using data from a large survey of more than 20,000 German house-holds. The results for five major appliances suggest that lack of knowledge of the energy label can generate considerable bias in both estimates of rates of uptake of class-A appliances and in estimates of the underlying determinants of choice of class-A appliance. Simulations of the choice to purchase a class-A appliance, given knowledge of the labeling framework, reveal that residence characteristics and, in several cases, regional electricity prices strongly increase the propensity to purchase a class-A appliance, but socio-economic characteristics have surprisingly little impact on appliance energy-class choice.

Suggested Citation

  • Mills, Bradford F. & Schleich, Joachim, 2009. "What's driving energy efficient appliance label awareness and purchase propensity?," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S1/2009, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:fisisi:s12009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/28512/1/605186650.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Linden, Anna-Lisa & Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika & Eriksson, Bjorn, 2006. "Efficient and inefficient aspects of residential energy behaviour: What are the policy instruments for change?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(14), pages 1918-1927, September.
    2. Truffer, Bernhard & Markard, Jochen & Wustenhagen, Rolf, 2001. "Eco-labeling of electricity--strategies and tradeoffs in the definition of environmental standards," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(11), pages 885-897, September.
    3. Benno Torgler & María A.García-Valiñas & Alison Macintyre, 2007. "Differences in Preferences Towards the Environment: The Impact of a Gender, Age and Parental Effect," CREMA Working Paper Series 2008-01, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    4. James J. Heckman, 1976. "The Common Structure of Statistical Models of Truncation, Sample Selection and Limited Dependent Variables and a Simple Estimator for Such Models," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 4, pages 475-492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Barr, Stewart & Gilg, Andrew W & Ford, Nicholas, 2005. "The household energy gap: examining the divide between habitual- and purchase-related conservation behaviours," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 1425-1444, July.
    6. Scott, S., 1997. "Household energy efficiency in Ireland: A replication study of ownership of energy saving items," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 187-208, May.
    7. Mark Aguiar & Erik Hurst, 2007. "Life-Cycle Prices and Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(5), pages 1533-1559, December.
    8. Weber, Christoph & Perrels, Adriaan, 2000. "Modelling lifestyle effects on energy demand and related emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(8), pages 549-566, July.
    9. Van de Ven, Wynand P. M. M. & Van Praag, Bernard M. S., 1981. "The demand for deductibles in private health insurance : A probit model with sample selection," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 229-252, November.
    10. Perrels, Adriaan & Weber, Christoph, 2000. "Modelling Impacts of Lifestyle on Energy Demand and Related Emissions," Discussion Papers 228, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    11. Sutherland, Ronald J, 1996. "The economics of energy conservation policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 361-370, April.
    12. Mills, Bradford F. & Schleich, Joachim, 2010. "Why don't households see the light?: Explaining the diffusion of compact fluorescent lamps," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 363-378, August.
    13. Schultz, Theodore W, 1975. "The Value of the Ability to Deal with Disequilibria," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 827-846, September.
    14. Dillman, Don A. & Rosa, Eugene A. & Dillman, Joye J., 1983. "Lifestyle and home energy conservation in the United States: the poor accept lifestyle cutbacks while the wealthy invest in conservation," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 3(3-4), pages 299-315, September.
    15. Long, James E., 1993. "An econometric analysis of residential expenditures on energy conservation and renewable energy sources," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 232-238, October.
    16. Gilg, Andrew & Barr, Stewart, 2006. "Behavioural attitudes towards water saving? Evidence from a study of environmental actions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 400-414, May.
    17. Sanchez, Marla C. & Brown, Richard E. & Webber, Carrie & Homan, Gregory K., 2008. "Savings estimates for the United States Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR voluntary product labeling program," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 2098-2108, June.
    18. Peter C. Reiss & Matthew W. White, 2008. "What changes energy consumption? Prices and public pressures," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(3), pages 636-663, September.
    19. 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.
    20. Ronald J. Sutherland, 1991. "Market Barriers to Energy-Efficiency Investments," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 15-34.
    21. Kahn, Matthew E., 2007. "Do greens drive Hummers or hybrids? Environmental ideology as a determinant of consumer choice," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 129-145, September.
    22. Vanessa Brechling & Stephen Smith, 1994. "Household energy efficiency in the UK," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 15(2), pages 44-56, May.
    23. Walsh, Michael J., 1989. "Energy tax credits and housing improvement," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 275-284, October.
    24. Richard G. Newell & Adam B. Jaffe & Robert N. Stavins, 1999. "The Induced Innovation Hypothesis and Energy-Saving Technological Change," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 941-975.
    25. Adam B. Jaffe & Robert N. Stavins, 1994. "Energy-Efficiency Investments and Public Policy," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), pages 43-66.
    26. Dupont, Diane P., 2004. "Do children matter? An examination of gender differences in environmental valuation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 273-286, July.
    27. Schiellerup, P., 2002. "An examination of the effectiveness of the EU minimum standard on cold appliances: the British case," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 327-332, March.
    28. Curtis, Fred A. & Simpson-Housley, P. & Drever, S., 1984. "Communications on energy Household energy conservation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 452-456, December.
    29. B. Howarth, Richard & Haddad, Brent M. & Paton, Bruce, 2000. "The economics of energy efficiency: insights from voluntary participation programs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 477-486, June.
    30. Sardianou, Eleni, 2007. "Estimating energy conservation patterns of Greek households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3778-3791, July.
    31. Lucas W. Davis, 2008. "Durable goods and residential demand for energy and water: evidence from a field trial," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(2), pages 530-546, June.
    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. 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.
    2. Mills, Bradford F. & Schleich, Joachim, 2009. "Profits or preferences? Assessing the adoption of residential solar thermal technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 4145-4154, October.
    3. Wüstenhagen, Rolf & Schleich, Joachim & Rennings, Klaus & Heinzle, Stefanie & Brohmann, Bettina, 2009. "What's Driving Sustainable Energy Consumption? A Survey of the Empirical Literature," ZEW Discussion Papers 09-013, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    4. 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.
    5. Sardianou, Eleni, 2007. "Estimating energy conservation patterns of Greek households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3778-3791, July.
    6. Carsten Lynge Jensen & Lars Gårn Hansen & Troels Fjordbak & Erik Gudbjerg, 2011. "The effect of providing free autopoweroff plugs to households on electricity consumption - A field experiment," IFRO Working Paper 2011/10, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    7. Carsten Lynge Jensen, Lars Garn Hansen, Troels Fjordbak, and Erik Gudbjerg, 2012. "Providing Free Autopoweroff Plugs: Measuring the Effect on Households' Electricity Consumption through a Field Experiment," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    8. Henningsen, Geraldine & Wiese, Catharina, 2019. "Do Household Characteristics Really Matter? A Meta-Analysis on the Determinants of Households’ Energy-Efficiency Investments," MPRA Paper 101701, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Murray, Anthony G. & Mills, Bradford F., 2011. "Read the label! Energy Star appliance label awareness and uptake among U.S. consumers," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1103-1110.
    10. Fiorillo, Damiano & Sapio, Alessandro, 2019. "Energy saving in Italy in the late 1990s: Which role for non-monetary motivations?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Nair, Gireesh & Gustavsson, Leif & Mahapatra, Krushna, 2010. "Factors influencing energy efficiency investments in existing Swedish residential buildings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 2956-2963, June.
    12. Mills, Bradford F. & Schleich, Joachim, 2010. "Why don't households see the light?: Explaining the diffusion of compact fluorescent lamps," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 363-378, August.
    13. O'Malley, Eoin & Scott, Susan & Sorrell, Steve, 2003. "Barriers to Energy Efficiency: Evidence from Selected Sectors," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number PRS47, June.
    14. De Groote, Olivier & Pepermans, Guido & Verboven, Frank, 2016. "Heterogeneity in the adoption of photovoltaic systems in Flanders," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 45-57.
    15. Schleich, Joachim, 2009. "Barriers to energy efficiency: A comparison across the German commercial and services sector," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 2150-2159, May.
    16. Sütterlin, Bernadette & Brunner, Thomas A. & Siegrist, Michael, 2011. "Who puts the most energy into energy conservation? A segmentation of energy consumers based on energy-related behavioral characteristics," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 8137-8152.
    17. Schleich, Joachim & Durand, Antoine & Brugger, Heike, 2021. "How effective are EU minimum energy performance standards and energy labels for cold appliances?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    18. Gillingham, Kenneth & Newell, Richard G. & Palmer, Karen L., 2004. "Retrospective Examination of Demand-Side Energy Efficiency Policies," Discussion Papers 10477, Resources for the Future.
    19. Morton, Craig & Wilson, Charlie & Anable, Jillian, 2018. "The diffusion of domestic energy efficiency policies: A spatial perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 77-88.
    20. Galarraga, Ibon & Abadie, Luis M. & Ansuategi, Alberto, 2013. "Efficiency, effectiveness and implementation feasibility of energy efficiency rebates: The “Renove” plan in Spain," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(S1), pages 98-107.

    More about this item

    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:zbw:fisisi:s12009. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/isfhgde.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.