The ways of interpreting green energy by young Polish individual recipients vs. their gender

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify the ways in which young Polish individual recipients interpret green energy, taking into account their gender, and to segment the respondents on the basis of this demographic feature. Based on the results of the literature analysis, a cognitive gap and a research gap with regard to the ways in which young individual recipients interpret green energy can be confirmed. Moreover, these aspects have not been analysed in the approach proposed in this article. In order to reduce the identified gaps, four research hypotheses were formulated and empirically verified. For this purpose, empirical studies were carried out. The survey method was used to collect primary data. The research covered 311 representatives of Polish young individual recipients aged 18–24. Primary data were subjected to quantitative analysis including tests and methods of statistical analysis. The most important results of this analysis include the discovery of: 1/a hierarchy of ways of interpreting green energy, taking into account the gender of the respondents, 2/the existence of dependencies between the four ways of interpreting green energy and the gender of the respondents, 3/homogeneous groups of respondents showing analogous ways of interpreting green energy among all respondents, as well as among the surveyed women and men. The conclusions drawn from research show a high cognitive and application value. They contribute to the theory of marketing, especially to the theory of experience marketing. They also offer important clues to managers, facilitating making the proper marketing decisions that can strengthen positive associations of green energy supporters and change the negative associations of sceptics.