The Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy: An Approach Based Customer Orientation

Abstract

Social acceptance is considered as a very important phenomenon in the development and implementation of renewable energy technologies and the achievement of energy policy objectives. It is generally argued that public attitudes need to be changed in order to enable the implementation of feasible renewable energy technologies. The aim of this research is to explore the determinants of social acceptance of renewable energy technologies while focusing on consumer orientation. This research paper concludes with the need for more systematic research on the social acceptance driven by consistent theoretical frameworks drawn from psychology and other social science disciplines, explicit concept definitions, and a focusing emphasis on symbolic and emotional aspects. A qualitative study based on a semantic analysis and a deductive approach is used to study the determinants of the phenomenon in question.