Abstract
Scarcity of resources and their waste, as well as deteriorating quality of life and the environment, are pressing problems of modern civilisations. Rational and efficient energy consumption is one of the possibilities for preventing harmful practices and the degradation of ecosystems. Understanding the consumer’s way of thinking and acting by identifying his needs and preferences are essential for effective efforts for smart, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth. Therefore, the aim of this article was a comprehensive socioeconomic analysis of particular behavioural types of energy consumers, as a continuation of the authors’ previous research. The paper uses statistical methods (chi-square test and correspondence analysis) dedicated to non-metric variables for an effective analysis of the data obtained from the questionnaires. The identification of socioeconomic factors was carried out on a representative sample of n = 4506 respondents from eight European countries (the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania, and the United Kingdom). This allowed for distinguishing a typical representative of five consumer segments (EI; AE; DS; O; I), developed on the basis of motivation to save energy. The authors succeeded in combining behavioural segmentation with the socioeconomic characteristics of the created classes. The results indicated that 10 out of 12 examined factors were significantly correlated with the behavioural type. These are (in order of significance): attitude towards saving energy; age; employment status; home country; the ownership status of the premises; the number of people in a household; average monthly income per person in a household; education; gender and place of residence.
Highlights
This paper is a continuation of work on universal behavioural segmentation [1], carried out as part of a research project on energy consumer behaviour in selected European countries
The respondents divided, according to the authors’ behavioural segmentation [1], into five segments (EI, Aspiring Ecologist (AE), Dedicated Saver (DS), O, I) which differed in terms of their motivation to save energy, since this was the basis for assigning them to the right groups
The results of the analysis, carried out according to the procedure described in Section 3, show that most of the studied socioeconomic factors are significantly related to the behavioural type of energy users, represented by the segment to which they have been classified
Summary
This paper is a continuation of work on universal behavioural segmentation [1], carried out as part of a research project on energy consumer behaviour in selected European countries. Energy consumption and related behaviours, attitudes, and preferences are one of the most important social problems today. Scarcity of resources, including energy, rational use, and change of beliefs and habits of a typical consumer are becoming an issue to be solved as soon as possible, on a global scale (world and national) but, above all, on a regional and local scale. Local communities may become the driving force of change and a role model at a time when ecological thinking, environmental protection, and natural resources protection are becoming not just a passing fad or whim but a necessity and even a long-term strategy. It is necessary to support local pro-ecological initiatives, build social and environmental capital, and, above all, help understand the behaviours, attitudes, and needs of ordinary people. Understanding seems to be the first step necessary to shape attitudes and change behaviours. Education and promotion of pro-environmental actions are essential to improving the public’s knowledge on how to use resources more efficiently and eliminate harmful and wasteful practices
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