Exploring the Relationship between Energy Cost and People's Consumption Behaviour

Abstract

The international drive to reduce carbon emission and improve energy security is focusing the attention on consumer behaviour, where significant energy savings are expected by a simple modification in attitude at minimal costs. Energy consumption in buildings in most countries accounts for 20% to 40% of the total consumption, as a result this makes household energy conservation an opportunity to reduce energy consumption. Most countries try to drive behavioural change via different strategies such as educating the public, improving feedback to consumers, enhancing building insulation, the use of smart meters and in some cases by increasing energy prices. This paper investigates the relationship between energy cost and people's consumption behaviour. Normally, energy cost is changed incrementally in most societies which makes the relationship between energy cost and behaviour a complex relationship; because it is linked to many factors such as inflation and the increase in average household's income. The increase in energy prices risks the introduction of fuel poverty which could result in many social and health concerns. In order to address the relationship between energy cost and people's behaviour, a unique case study is addressed by focusing on a group of Qatari students living in the UK. The reason behind this is that Qataris have a distinctive situation where they enjoy subsidised electricity in their own home country, but when they move to UK, they are expected to pay for their electricity consumption. When their energy bill becomes a significant part of their monthly income, would this have an influence on their behaviour in comparison to living in Qatar? This paper has addressed the above question through a survey to Qatari students living in the UK and the results show that electricity cost was a main factor in their behavioural change; however, other factors also play an important role in their consumer behaviour such as values, education, culture and independent life style.