Distinguishing households and residents in the study of
household energy consumption - a multilevel approach
Presented by Dr Steve McEachern, School of Business, University of Ballarat
Wednesday, 2 July 2008, 1.30-2.30pm in Room B902
Abstract
Social science researchers examining the drivers and determinants of
household energy use have regularly called for an improved understanding
of the psychological and social processes underlying household
decision-making behaviour to improve the quality and complexity of
behavioural models. There is however an apparent gap in this research in
the context of household energy consumption behaviour - the need to
understand the social psychology of the household and the interaction of
individual household members on household outcomes. Processes of
interaction, communication, education and normative influence occur
within a household that a significant effect on household level
outcomes. The extent to which these intra-household dynamics are
considered within the literature is limited (Lutzenheiser, 2002), and
without a clear conceptual framework.
This paper argues that improved understanding of both individual-level
and household level behavioural outcomes could be achieved by taking
multilevel considerations of the household into account. The paper
therefore provides a first attempt to address this shortcoming by
developing a conceptual framework for examining the dynamics of the
household and their influence on environmentally significant behaviour
at both an individual and a household level. Methods for evaluation of
these dynamics are then proposed, in the context of an evaluation of a
longitudinal solar energy program (the Central Victorian Solar City)
aimed at reducing energy use through a combination of technical and
social interventions in a sample of Australian households. The paper
then concludes with a discussion of how such a multilevel conceptual
framework can add to existing understanding of the determinants of
household energy use.
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