Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung ISI

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  • Publication
    Household acceptability of energy efficiency policies in the European Union: Policy characteristics trade-offs and the role of trust in government and environmental identity
    ( 2022)
    Faure, Corinne
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    Guetlein, Marie-Charlotte
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    Schleich, Joachim orcid-logo
    ;
    Tu, Gengyang
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    Whitmarsh, Lorraine
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    Whittle, Colin
    This research investigates the acceptability of energy efficiency policies among European households. Based on large-scale surveys in Italy, Poland, Sweden, and the UK, we use a discrete choice experiment to study the tradeoffs made by households between various policy characteristics including policy target level, dependence on energy imports, policy instruments (education and information programmes, standards, taxation, energy consumption limit), costs to the household, and distribution of costs between households and other sectors. In particular, we investigate the role of trust in government and of environmental identity on the acceptability of these policy characteristics. Across the four countries, we find that households prefer effective policies, dislike personal costs, and prefer non-coercive to coercive instruments; further, trust in government helps make coercive policies such as taxes more acceptable, whereas higher environmental identity makes consumption limits more acceptable.
  • Publication
    The heat is off! The role of technology attributes and individual attitudes in the diffusion of smart thermostats - findings from a multi-country survey
    ( 2021)
    Tu, Gengyang
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    Faure, Corinne
    ;
    Schleich, Joachim orcid-logo
    ;
    Guetlein, Marie-Charlotte
    Smart thermostats may provide up to 10% savings in residential thermal energy use without loss of comfort, yet their diffusion has typically been slow. To better understand adoption of these devices, we conducted an online survey with approximately 5,500 respondents from eight European countries that included both a discrete choice experiment (DCE) and stated past adoption of smart thermostats. The results we obtained by estimating mixed logit models suggest that households value heating cost savings, remote temperature control, the display of changes in energy consumption, and recommendations by experts, albeit with substantial heterogeneity across countries; in comparison, subsidies are positively valued in all countries except for Germany and Spain, and recommendations by energy providers in all countries except Poland where they are negatively valued. Further, the findings provide evidence that consumer innovativeness reinforces the acceptance of technical attributes (heating cost savings, feedback functionalities, and remote temperature control), that privacy concerns reduce the acceptance of remote functionalities, and that stronger environmental identity reinforces the acceptance of environmentally related attributes (heating cost savings and feedback functionalities). The results we obtained from estimating binary response models of stated past adoption of smart thermostats are generally consistent with those of the DCE.
  • Publication
    Would you prefer to rent rather than own your new heating system? Insights from a discrete choice experiment among owner-occupiers in the UK
    ( 2021)
    Schleich, Joachim orcid-logo
    ;
    Tu, Gengyang
    ;
    Faure, Corinne
    ;
    Guetlein, Marie-Charlotte
    By offering to rent energy technologies, energy suppliers and other companies may tap into new market segments, allowing them to preserve or increase market shares. Because such rental services can help overcome capital-related and other barriers to energy efficiency, they may also contribute to achieving ambitious energy and climate targets. Yet, empirical analyses of renting energy technologies are scarce. Employing a large-scale discrete choice experiment among owner-occupiers in the United Kingdom, this study explores households' willingness-to-pay for renting compared to owning their new heating system. The findings obtained from mixed logit models suggest that, on average, participants strongly dislike renting compared to owning their new heating system, in particular owner-occupiers who are older than 70 years. However, about a third of the sample is estimated to prefer renting. On average, participants also value heating cost savings associated with energy efficient heating systems and longer warranty periods. Finally, the paper discusses implications for policymakers and for providers of heating system rental services.
  • Publication
    Conveyance, envy, and homeowner choice of appliances
    ( 2020)
    Schleich, Joachim orcid-logo
    ;
    Faure, Corinne
    ;
    Guetlein, Marie-Charlotte
    ;
    Tu, Gengyang
    Conveyance, i.e. the fact that an appliance purchased will be left in a dwelling when moving out, may lead homeowners to purchase appliances of lower quality or performance, because the extra costs are not entirely capitalized into the house sales price. Employing a discrete choice experiment with homeowners in the United States, this paper explores the effects of conveyance on homeowners' willingness-to-pay for various attributes of refrigerators. To account for the social nature of purchases when conveyance is likely to occur, it also tests the role of envy (elicited through an incentivized game). The findings provide evidence that conveyors are more likely than non-conveyors to purchase a smaller refrigerator, from a less well-known brand, and with lower customer ratings. In contrast, conveyance was not found to affect homeowners' choices when it comes to energy cost. In addition, envy was found to generally reinforce the negative effects of conveyance on homeowners' willingness-to-pay for several quality and performance attributes. While conveyance and its interaction with envy help explain why some homeowners choose certain quality/performance attributes of appliances, these factors do not appear to explain the energy efficiency paradox.