Energy-saving behavior of Turkish women: A consumer survey on the use of home appliances

What is it about?

This paper focuses on energy-related attitudes and behaviors of Turkish women, who are the main users of electrical home appliances responsible for most household energy consumption. Answers from 1323 female respondents surveyed through a unique questionnaire formed the dataset. The results from analysis of variance show that education has a significant effect on the relationship between energy saving and awareness and attitudes about climate change. Significant differences also exist between education level groups in terms of knowledge of the classification of energy-saving electrical home appliances. Responses to questions related to energy-saving purchasing behaviors are consistently higher for knowledgeable respondents. The paper then uses factor analysis and ordinal logit models to reveal interactions between energy-saving behavior regarding electrical home appliances and several factors, namely awareness, sensitivity, essentials, and receptiveness. The identification of these factors can provide useful insights for policy makers that enable them to construct energy-saving policies specifically tailored toward women.

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Why is it important?

The key point about the question whether the consumers informed about energy saving is that it utilizes the consciousness when purchasing electrical appliances, considering that consumers also are informed about the impact of energy saving in fighting climate change. This study shows that awareness about climate change motivates women to act in accordance with this when purchasing, indicating that efforts spreading such information may help fight climate change. Another result related to purchasing decisions is that education increases the importance that consumers assign to technical and energy-saving features in electrical household appliances.

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