Predicting intention of residential solar installation: The role of ecological lifestyle, consumer innovativeness, perceived benefit, government incentives, and solar product knowledge

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the relationships between personal traits (sustainable lifestyle and consumer innovativeness), psychological and physical benefits (warm glow and government incentive), attitude toward rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system installation, and intention to install a residential PV system. Furthermore, we examined the moderating effect of solar product knowledge on the relationship between attitude and intention to install a residential PV system. Convenience sampling was performed to collect data in this study. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to participants in the form of an online survey. To prevent priming effects, the research constructs were not presented in the questionnaire, and the questions were not presented in the order of the research constructs. Each questionnaire item was evaluated using a 7-point Likert scale, and 370 valid surveys were received. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to verify the validity of the constructs. The CFA results confirmed that the measurement scales used in this study were appropriate. The conclusions of this study are as follows. First, ecological lifestyle, consumer innovativeness, government incentive, and warm glow affect attitude toward rooftop PV system installation. Second, this attitude influences the intention of rooftop PV system installation, and consumer knowledge moderates the relationship between attitude and intention toward rooftop PV system installation. This study's findings provide a comprehensive theoretical and empirical basis for understanding the antecedents of attitude toward the installation of residential solar energy systems. Thus, the public sector can use the aforementioned findings as a basis for developing a residential solar energy promotion policy, and relevant public and private companies can use these findings as a basis to create attractive marketing strategies for residential solar energy technology.