Abstract
Energy efficiency is an increasingly important dimension of household appliances, which is why they are labeled to indicate their energy consumption. In 2020, the European Union countries changed the labeling system from the previous system: ranging from A+++ to D, to the new system: ranging from A to G, assuming it would be more transparent for the consumer. The aim of the study was to find out the extent to which consumers are aware of the new labeling system, and the impact that the new labels have (compared to the previous ones) on the perception of household appliances and consumer decision-making. For this purpose, the survey was conducted on a nationwide representative Polish sample (n = 1054). The research was partly experimental, where the same appliances were presented with new and previous energy labels. The results showed that currently most people do not identify the new energy classes. Furthermore, products with the new labels are perceived as being less energy efficient in comparison with products with the previous labels, which shows that there is some confusion among consumers in terms of the new energy efficiency labeling system.
Highlights
Energy-related products, used daily in millions of households around the world, contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and, to negative climate change.Among this group of products, household appliances determine approximately 25% of totalEuropean energy consumption and represent one of the fastest-growing energy loads [1,2,3].Being aware of the importance of the problem, the European Union (EU) has for years been implementing initiatives aimed at increasing products’ energy efficiency, reducing energy consumption in households, and creating a clear and consumer-friendly labeling system
When we looked at the responses separately for those who said they knew or did not know the meaning of the new labels, we observed differences between the groups
Among those who claimed to be unfamiliar with the new labels, 64% confirmed that they did not understand the meaning of the C class label
Summary
Being aware of the importance of the problem, the European Union (EU) has for years been implementing initiatives aimed at increasing products’ energy efficiency, reducing energy consumption in households, and creating a clear and consumer-friendly labeling system. We explored how the new energy labels (compared to the previous ones) affect consumer judgements and decisions: an evaluation of household appliances and of the willingness to buy (WTB) the product. We accomplished these goals by conducting a quantitative survey combined with an experimental design on a representative sample of Polish consumers (n = 1054). This issue is of particular importance in Poland, where energy consumption is high and growing every year (increasing by 1.4% per year between 2000 and 2018)
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