Beyond energy efficiency: Do consumers care about life-cycle properties of household appliances?

Abstract

Legislative proposals intend to require that manufacturers provide consumers with information on product life-cycle impacts. Yet, little is known about how consumers value such life-cycle information and who would be most sensitive to it. In this paper, we employ data from a demographically representative household survey among the adult population in Germany (N = 404), which elicits individuals’ preferences for energy-related attributes of refrigerators. Based on mixed logit analysis of a discrete choice experiment, we find that consumers, on average, dislike refrigerators with much higher embodied energy, value the highest energy class, and prefer refrigerators with longer warranty periods. Latent class models distinguish three consumer classes: 'price sensitives' (36%), 'quality seekers' (24%) and 'energy savers' (40%). 'Energy savers' are characterized by a higher environmental identity, energy literacy, and more patience than the other classes. Rating scales reveal that consumers consider life-cycle properties with direct, private benefits much more strongly than properties with mainly indirect, social benefits. Results from ordered logit models suggest that women with more patience and high environmental identity consider all life-cycle properties more strongly, while durability appears to also be valued more by low-income and more energy literate consumers. The results support ongoing policy initiatives that require the provision of life-cycle information and call for instruments to help consumers select appliances based on life-cycle costs.