Household Consumption Behavior Research Articles

Investigating environmentally sustainable consumption: A diary study of home‐based consumption behaviors

AbstractThis study analyzes three environmentally sustainable household consumption behaviors (optimizing the use of domestic water, minimizing food waste, and minimizing plastic packaging usage) through the model of goal‐directed behavior. The findings show that attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, anticipated emotions, and habits are all significant predictors of the desire to adopt sustainable consumption behaviors, which directly fosters the intention to adopt these behaviors. Intention–behavior links were unique for each behavior; minimizing plastic packaging usage was the most difficult behavior to implement. This study offers useful insights into people's sustainable consumption goals and their intentions to adopt responsible consumption behaviors. A generalizable model of environmentally sustainable household behaviors that considers the three behaviors simultaneously is presented. This study suggests that business and policy strategies that could successfully promote sustainability in the household might proceed by, for example, empowering consumers or changing their habits.

The role of household energy consumption behavior in environmental policy outcomes —the case of driving restriction policy in zhengzhou

The evaluation of the environmental effects of the driving restriction policy often sparks widespread discussions in the literature due to its complex and controversial assessment methods. Fewer studies have delved into the exploration of household energy consumption behavior, the role played by the targeted subjects of policy implementation, and the policy's impact on climate change. This paper focuses on the case of Zhengzhou, a city in China, to thoroughly discuss the formulation process of the driving restriction policy. By utilizing publicly available statistical data and conducting surveys among 795 households, this research employs statistical methods such as regression discontinuity, difference-in-differences estimation, and improved causal stepwise regression to quantitatively estimate the environmental consequences of the driving restriction policy. It also examines the impact of changes in residents' consumption behavior on policy effects and climate change under this policy shock. The study aims at bridging the gap between environmental policy effects, individual behavior changes, and climate change research. Our findings indicate that the driving restriction policy is effective in the short term, significantly improving air quality. However, due to the stickiness of residents' household consumption behavior and the adaptive adjustments in long-term travel behavior, the pollution-reducing effects of the policy gradually weaken and even exacerbate air pollution, resulting in an additional increase of approximately 147,950 tons of carbon dioxide emissions after the policy had been implemented for nine months. Therefore, this paper further suggests that implementing environmental policies requires close coordination with adjustments in household energy consumption behavior.

Renewable energy, inequality and environmental degradation

The connection between income inequality and environmental degradation remains a topic of persistent debate, marked by inconsistencies in both theoretical and empirical studies. This study offers a novel contribution to this discourse by investigating the simultaneous influences of renewable energy and income inequality on environmental degradation. Utilizing data from 158 nations from 2000 to 2017, our research reveals a crucial moderating role of renewable energy in the nexus between income inequality and environmental degradation. The study's key finding is that the impact of income inequality on environmental degradation is contingent on the level of renewable energy development. In scenarios with limited renewable energy, income equality leads to increased environmental degradation. However, when renewable energy is more developed, income equality contributes to reducing environmental degradation. This novel insight suggests that renewable energy development can mitigate the trade-off between pursuing income equality and environmental sustainability, thereby enabling their simultaneous achievement. The research also highlights that a more equitable income distribution enhances the environmental benefits of renewable energy. Further analysis demonstrates the significant role played by household consumption behavior and social norms in shaping this phenomenon. By adding these new dimensions to the existing literature, the study significantly enriches the understanding of the complex interplay among economic factors, renewable energy, and environmental sustainability.

Management of Household Energy Saving and Its Green Alternatives

Given the significant growth potential in households' energy consumption in China, studying household consumption behavior becomes even more valuable. This study explores factors influencing the shift in households' energy-saving preferences from habitual energy-saving behavior to consumption-oriented energy-saving behavior, as well as to analyze the potential for using other green alternatives to traditional energy in energy consumption. Empirical results reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between household income and energy consumption, occurring when energy-saving awareness (ESA) exceeds a critical threshold. Below this threshold, household income is positively correlated with energy consumption. Further analysis indicated that once income exceeds the turning point, households' higher ESA leads to reduced energy consumption, indicating potential for green alternatives in higher-income households. Overall, the study highlights how awareness and income interact to shape energy-saving choices, emphasizing the potential for sustainable energy options in affluent households.

HOUSEHOLDS’ FOOD CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOUR DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: EVIDENCE FROM RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The food consumption behaviour of households has been affected by the lockdown restrictions that were implemented to reduce the COVID-19 infection rate. This study was aimed at analysing the food consumption behaviour of rural households during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. To achieve this, a simple random technique was used to collect data from 120 in Merry Pebble (MP) Stream Village. Thereafter, an Ordered Probit Model was used to examine the extent to which households have increased, decreased or maintained the same quantity of food consumed during COVID-19. The results indicated that 46.7% of the rural households had consumed less food during COVID-19 pandemic, 32.5% consumed about the same amount of food, and 20.8% consumed more food. The variables that contributed towards a decrease in food consumption are employment status, household size, loss of income, and social relief grants. On the contrary, bulk buying and food parcels had stabilised food consumption, while the number of employed people in a household and food bought from restaurants contributed towards an increase in food consumption during COVID-19 pandemic. With regard to consumption behaviour per food item, fresh produce, meat, snacks and fast food were consumed less during COVID-19, while there was a constant consumption in dairy products, and an increase in consumption of canned food, frozen food, prepared food, grains and water. The study recommends that the government should continue with the economic and social relief programmes that were created during COVID-19, as they play an important role in increasing and stabilising food consumption by rural households.

Heterogeneity in household consumption behavior: The role of inequality and financial instability

We analyze, using the micro data of the Household Financial Survey (HFS) of the Bank of Spain, the consumption consequences of the household balance sheets and debt accumulation during the real estate bubble of 2002–2005, the Great Recession (2008–2011) and the subsequent economic recovery phase (2014–2017). Using quantile regression models, we find heterogeneity in household consumption behavior with respect to income and net worth levels, and in response to changes in household net worth in the last two periods. During the considered real estate bubble period, this heterogeneity in behavior is diminished, and only occurs in relation to the level of net wealth, in line with Hyman Minsky’s Paradox of Tranquility. These findings favor the post-Keynesian theory on consumption. The greater inequality leads to a higher propensity of certain households to consume in response to changes in housing and financial net worth. This is compatible with the relative income hypothesis extended in expenditure cascades models. Otherwise, households will be willing to take on more risk during economic boom periods associated with a real estate bubble, which translates into debt-financed consumption that virtually makes such heterogeneity practically disappear.

Changing patterns of household water consumption and conservation behaviour in Bangladesh: an exploration in the context of COVID-19 pandemic

Changing patterns of household water consumption and conservation behaviour in Bangladesh: an exploration in the context of COVID-19 pandemic

Changing patterns of household water consumption and conservation behaviour in Bangladesh: an exploration in the context of COVID-19 pandemic

Changing patterns of household water consumption and conservation behaviour in Bangladesh: an exploration in the context of COVID-19 pandemic

Striving for Sustainability: A Study of Water Consumption Behavior of Households in Lahore Division

Amid the escalating global water scarcity concerns, exacerbated by increasing demand characterized by unsustainable water consumption practices, this study addresses the imperative need to identify the factors that promotes the sustainable water consumption behavior among households. Our research builds upon the theoretical premises of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), proposing a unique model that incorporates consumers’ water-saving preferences as a moderating factor to address the intention-behavior gap. In order to accomplish the proposed study objective, we approached 1552 households living in the residential premises of Lahore Division. We applied Partial Least Square – Structural Equational Modelling (PLS-SEM) to empirically analyze the results. Our research reveals that consumer’s sustainable water consumption intention and water saving preferences are important factors that promotes the sustainable water consumption behavior among the households. Moreover, the study unveils the moderating role of these preferences in reinforcing the relationship between intention and behavior, effectively bridging the intention-behavior gap. Additionally, our research identifies the indirect influence of consumers’ water-saving attitudes and perceived behavioral control on shaping sustainable water consumption behavior. Importantly, the study demonstrates a substantial improvement in the predictive accuracy of TPB with the inclusion of water-saving preferences as a moderating factor. These insights hold significant implications for devising interventions to promote sustainable water consumption behavior among households.

Economic Policy Responses to Covid-19 and Expenditures on Domestic Travel: International Evidence

In response to the unprecedented circumstances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, various national government policies were implemented to reduce the serious economic damage caused by the pandemic and attempts to control it. These policies generally aimed to kick-start domestic-led recoveries in many sectors. This study examines how different types of fiscal measures adopted by governments in response to this pandemic are associated with the growth of expenditure on domestic travel in 2020. Utilizing data from 76 countries and applying OLS estimator and 2SLS regression (which mitigates the potential endogeneity problem), the study shows that governments’ additional spending and tax reductions (especially in non-health sectors) positively contributed to rising expenditure in domestic travel destinations. Similar results are found for countries that are very reliant on tourism. Our findings lend empirical support for Keynesian theory’s prediction concerning the effect of government spending and tax reduction on household consumption behavior in the short run, particularly during periods of economic stress and uncertainty.

Digital infrastructure construction and household energy efficiency: Based on a quasi-natural experiment in China

With respect to total emissions, the proportion of household carbon emissions exhibits an upward trend; therefore, to reduce carbon emissions and enhance energy efficiency, researchers should understand the reasons for the increase in household carbon emissions. This study, which is based on the construction of the “Broadband China” demonstration cities and the 2010–2018 China Family Panel Studies, applies a difference-in-differences method. It identifies the impact of digital infrastructure construction on indirect household energy consumption, carbon emissions, and energy efficiency. The estimation results indicate that digital infrastructure construction significantly enhances household energy consumption and carbon emissions, and that it enhances the household energy efficiency pertaining to household carbon emissions and usage. Furthermore, the results indicate that households mainly enhance energy usage and efficiency by increasing developmental consumption. Additionally, this study noted that digital infrastructure construction affects household energy consumption and efficiency through the development of the consumer Internet and industrial Internet, which reshapes household consumption behavior and promotes the producers' technological progress.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on urban residents’ consumption behavior of forest food—an empirical study of 6,946 urban residents

Forest food, which possesses enormous potential, has emerged as a significant and promising food source under the all-encompassing approach to food. The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 has enhanced health cognition among residents, impacting household food consumption patterns. In this study, we analyzed data from 6,946 urban households in 14 cities of Liaoning Province to examine the consumption behavior of urban households regarding 4 categories of forest food (forest nuts, forest fruits and vegetables, forest drinks, and forest medicines) before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Various empirical methods were employed, including the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), Ordinal Logit Model, Mediation Effect Model, and Moderation Effect Model. The results revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic positively impacted the “willingness-behavior” consumption behavior of urban residents toward forest food. Health cognition played a positive mediating role in influencing residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for forest food during the pandemic. Per capita income had a negative moderating effect on the actual purchasing behavior of urban residents toward forest food. Furthermore, differences were observed in the consumption behavior of forest food among residents in cities with different levels of pandemic severity.

Households’ Willingness to Pay for Renewable Energy Alternatives in Thailand

While the problems about the environmental effects of traditional energy use are growing, Thailand has a rapid response by increasing its renewable energy (RE) policy. Even though Thailand has seen rapid growth in RE, it has been focusing on supporting the producers and not considering the users. In addition, there were few studies on RE receivers in Thailand. To reach sustainable growth and increase the empirical study, this research aims to analyze the socio-economy, electric consumption behavior, attitude, opinions, and cognition of households in Bangkok Metropolitan to willingly pay for RE alternatives in Thailand. A questionnaire survey was carried out for 250 households covering six administrative districts, selected through multistage and stratified sampling techniques. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and conditional logit regression. It is found that the overall household in Bangkok still unchanged the status of electricity production based on the findings of socio-economy, behavior, and psychological factors. Considering to pay for RE alternatives, households are willing to pay (WTP) for solar energy at the highest level among other types, and biomass is the least willing to pay when the RE share is expected to reach 40%. These results are relevant for the planning of RE in the metropolitan region and the methodology applicable to other regions for extending RE opportunities to the national level.

Моделі споживчої поведінки домогосподарств: еволюція від унітарних до колективних.

The problems of estimating and forecasting the economic behavior of households attract more and more attention of scientists, experts and even politicians. This is explained mainly by the popularity of modern tools for ex-ante assessment of the impact of economic and social reforms on the most important aspects of the population’s life: consumption of goods and services, economic activity, needs for social support, satisfaction with the standard of living and living conditions, etc. The article, which is primarily an overview, examines the peculiarities of the formation and development of unitary and collective models of consumer behavior of households, as a theoretical basis for the development of applied tools for evaluating corresponding economic processes. The main principles of creating unitary and collective models are highlighted, and the main advantages of the collective approach are substantiated. Some attention is paid to the role of the Pareto principle of efficient resource allocation in modeling the household behavior, and to the problems of forming equivalence scales of household incomes and expenditures. Issues of the effectiveness of the microsimulation approach in the development of applied tools for assessing the economic behavior of households, and the formation of an information support system for microsimulation modeling are discussed. It is noted that although microsimulation modeling is a relatively new area of research on the household economic behavior, it can ensure the development of adequate and effective applied reduced collective models. The characteristics of the household time use survey, as one of the main data sources for creating collective models, are given. The importance of the availability of representative microdata sets of other sample surveys characterizing both households and their members, in particular, such as the household income and living conditions sample surveys and labor force surveys is noted. The purpose of the article is to assess the evolution of economic models of household consumption behavior from unitary to collective, to determine the essence and advantages of collective models, to identify opportunities and effective ways of their practical usage for modeling the behavior of Ukrainian households. The novelty of the article is in the study of models of household behavior both in the historical perspective and from the point of view of increasing their adequacy based on more realistic assumptions and ways of formalizing models, determining the prospects of a microsimulation approach for the development of applied collective models. In the process of preparing the article, while summarizing the experience of scientific research in the field of modeling the economic behavior of households, methods of deduction and induction, analysis and synthesis were used. Comparison method made it possible to compare the unitary and collective approaches in modeling the consumer behavior of households, identify their similarities and differences. The conclusions summarize the main theses of the article and highlight the main directions of further research.

Show Me the Money: Tracking Consumer Spending with Daily Card Transaction Data During the Pandemic

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented shock to economic activity with abrupt and unexpected changes in household consumption behavior. This paper investigates how the spread of the pandemic and government interventions have affected consumer spending using daily card transaction data in the Baltics. The analysis shows significant effects on the amount and composition of debit and credit card transactions. First, the number of new COVID-19 infections or deaths has a strongly negative effect. Second, while public health measures designed to contain the spread of the pandemic has a negative effect, economic support measures designed to assist businesses and households have a stimulative effect. Third, there is heterogeneity across spending categories, but the drop is mostly concentrated in sectors that are restricted by lockdowns and the risk of infection. Fourth, the impact of government interventions, especially in terms of stimulating consumer spending, appears to be more pronounced on goods than services.

Sustainable lifestyle: Urban household carbon footprint accounting and policy implications for lifestyle-based decarbonization

Cities, as the primary hubs of economic activities and the end-points of goods and services consumption, bear significant responsibility for the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, there is a pressing need for more granular data at the subnational level to formulate effective and feasible measures in line with current decarbonization targets. In this study, we present the carbon footprint embodied in household consumption behavior of 11 major metropolitan areas in Japan. Furthermore, our study innovatively introduces a temporal perspective, employing time organization as an insightful indicator to delineate the disparities in carbon footprints that arise from varying carbon intensities of distinct activities. The results are given from the following three aspects: 1) structural comparison of urban household carbon footprints; 2) time-based activity differences and drivers; and 3) inequality analysis among different activity-based carbon footprints. Here, we found that eating contributes most substantially to the carbon footprint. Conversely, transportation activities manifest the greatest regional inequality in carbon footprints. These findings provide indispensable evidence for the development of city-specific net-zero-emission goals within Japan. Furthermore, they exemplify the value of incorporating a temporal dimension into household carbon footprint analyses, thereby providing a broader perspective for future investigations in this field.

Decision Support Strategies for Household Water Consumption Behaviors Based on Advanced Recommender Systems

Water is one of the most important factors that can influence human health. Therefore, constant monitoring of water consumption is essential to maintain a balance of water demand. A recommendation system represents a major challenge, but with huge potential for the water industry, providing consumers the most efficient ways to conserve water based on their data collected from smart water meters. This paper proposes a novel recommendation system design architecture that promotes water conservation behavior among residential consumers from urban areas. We analyzed 480,000 data samples from several households with different profiles to generate personalized recommendations for each household and encourage consumers to adopt measures to raise awareness and reduce water consumption. Moreover, data were collected from three different measurement points in the household (cold_sink, hot_sink, and toilet), with a sampling time of 60 s. The proposed recommendation system implements collaborative filtering combined with a set of rules to generate recommendations based on the consumption patterns of similar households. The results are promising, offering personalized feedback that could help change the consumption behavior of households if the recommendations made are followed.

HOUSEHOLD FOOD AND NON-FOOD CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOUR IN PAKISTAN

The main objective of the study is to identify the household consumption pattern in Pakistan. To fulfill the objective, the research incorporates microdata of household expenditure on twenty food and nonfood groups for the period 2018- 19. Different socioeconomic and demographic variables are also used to explain household consumption behaviour. It is concluded that most of the expenditure share of food and non-food groups of commodities has increased due to an increase in per capita income, but at a decreasing rate. Household size, household age and employment by age and by gender have played a significant role in altering the consumption share of most of food and nonfood commodities. There are both provincial and regional disparities exist in consumption behavior. Housing is considered a normal or luxurious good, while education is inferior because the expenditure share of housing has increased as income has increased, and so on. It is suggested that the government should work to increase the awareness regarding the importance of education.

Customized Pricing Strategy for Households Based on Occupancy-Aided Load Disaggregation

Pricing strategies can be utilized to manage energy demand-supply imbalance and power distribution network congestion. With the application of smart meter technologies, the real-time consumption behavior of individual households can be studied to enhance the effectiveness of the formulated pricing strategy. Hence, in this paper, a customized pricing strategy based on non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) techniques is proposed from the perspective of the energy retailer, aiming to incentivize households to change their load consumption patterns. First, the real-time occupancy state of each household is detected to identify the ability of the household to respond to the retail price. Second, the occupancy-aided factorial hidden Markov model (FHMM) is developed to facilitate the retailer to incorporate the real-time consumption behavior of households into pricing strategy formulation. Third, the real-time price elasticity of the consumption of each appliance within each household is mathematically modeled based on the real-time hidden state of each appliance. Numerical results indicate that the proposed pricing strategy is effective in managing the load consumption of households and assisting the retailer in increasing profitability.

Expansion of social networks and household carbon emissions: Evidence from household survey in China

As a factor influencing household consumption behavior, the expansion of social networks has an important impact on household carbon emissions (HCEs). Based on survey data from the China Family Panel Studies from 2014 to 2018, we explored the impacts of the expansion of social networks on HCEs and its mechanism. We further analyzed the heterogeneous effects of household income level and characteristics of household heads on HCEs, including age and education level. Our results show that the expansion of social networks can increase HCEs through enlarging consumption quantity and upgrading consumption structure, which is motivated by the comparison behavior based on status-seeking. In addition, the expansion of social networks has a bigger impact on HCEs when the head of household is younger, the head of household has a higher level of education, and the per capita income of the household is higher. These findings suggest that adjusting consumer behavior through the expansion of social networks, cultivating green consumption concepts, and promoting the consumption of low-carbon products may become important strategies to mitigate HCEs.