To Consume or Not to Consume? On the Behavioral Drivers of Household Energy Consumption

Effective demand-side management can mitigate these challenges by encouraging consumers to adjust their energy use; however, the behavioral drivers that shape such adjustments are not sufficiently understood. Using a representative survey of households in Luxembourg (N = 1,011), this article examines how social pressure and sense of worth relate to households’ perceived ability to engage in energy conservation and scheduling behaviors.

The results show that both social pressure and sense of worth are positively associated with these behaviors, with a stronger association for sense of worth. In general, the results indicate that policies that promote the intrinsic value of responsible energy behavior may be more effective than those that rely solely on social pressure