Abstract
This study examines the effects of values, norms, perceived behavioral control, and education on intentions to save energy and actual energy-saving behaviors among residential energy customers (N = 329). A linear regression with ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates showed that environmental values, energy-saving norms, and perceived behavioral control did not have uniform effects on energy behaviors and the intention to conserve was not significantly correlated with energy-using behaviors. However, there is a link between perceived behavioral control and energy-saving behaviors. Respondents with higher educational attainment had greater intentions to conserve energy and an increased likelihood of engaging in energy-conscious behavior like turning off the television more frequently. Further exploration revealed that a considerable portion of the effect of education was due to the mediating effect of perceived behavioral control and not due to increased pro-environmental values or norms.
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Notes
1The latter list substituted for the customers of Another Energy Company which declined participation in the research. InfoUSA produces lists which lean toward home ownership as they combine magazine subscriptions, census data, tax assessment records, voter registration lists, and the like. Relying on the InfoUSA list for two thirds of the county’s residential sector biases the results toward single-family homes, non-Hispanic-White households, and owners as opposed to renters. For example, there were more renters among City Utilities Commission clients than among the other company’s clients. Unfortunately, the lower representation of renters and Black and Hispanic households limits possible comparisons: we are only able to contrast the responses of non-Hispanic Whites (NH Whites) to those of non-White residents. The racial composition reported by the 2010 US Census indicates the sample bias toward the White population: the proportion of non-Hispanic White people in the Census is 46 %, while in our sample, 81 % of the respondents are non-Hispanic Whites. For Black households, comparable proportions are 19.5 % in the US Census and 7 % in this sample; for Hispanic households, 27 % in the US Census and 9 % in this sample. Thus, based on Census 2010 data, the county does not have a majority racial group: none of the racial groups comprises more than 50 % of the county residents.
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Acknowledgments
Both authors would like to thank Dr. Penelope Canan, Professor Emerita at the University of Central Florida, for her inspiration, encouragement, and mentorship, throughout this project.
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Pals, H., Singer, L. Residential energy conservation: the effects of education and perceived behavioral control. J Environ Stud Sci 5, 29–41 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-014-0196-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-014-0196-6