Energy Conservation in Rural India: The Impact of Context and Attitudes on Behaviour

Abstract

The energy conservation behaviour of people is a significant issue given the growing global concern about environmental issues. The current study is part of a larger intervention project aimed at changing the energy use behaviour of people living in rural households in Kerala, India. Preliminary activities of the project started in early 1997. The management and administration of the project spread over a period of 8 years. The study explores the extent of energy saved by these rural households when awareness, availability and training about the technologies are present, and thereby examines the impact of attitudinal variables and contextual factors on the energy-saving behaviour of people. This paper revisits the theories of behavioural change in the context of energy-saving behaviour and investigates whether Attitude, Behaviour, Context theory can be used to predict environmentally significant human behaviour. Findings revealed that traditional habits and beliefs influenced attitude formation in rural households and hence should be treated as an important consideration in changing energy conservation behaviours in the future.

Technological Innovations, Behavioural Interventions, and Household Energy Conservation

“…Their study found that non-pecuniary information regarding the health and environmental effects of energy consumption can significantly reduce energy consumption. While the studies cited here all seem to suggest the effectiveness of behavioural interventions, Prabhu et al (2013) paint a more complex picture. They studied a large-scale programme launched in rural Kerala to greater awareness about energy efficiency.…”

Does wastophobia bring sustainability in consumers’ responsible behavior? A case of electricity waste management

“…Consciously Irresponsible (knowingly) Laziness (Balta-Ozkan, et. al., 2013) Habbits (Prabhu, 2013) Higher Income (Vassileva & Campillo, 2014) Security Threats (Chitnis, Desphande & Shaligram, 2016) Unconsciously Irresponsible (Unknowingly) Standby mode (Bertoldi, 2015) Conventional Appliances (Ajay, Lalit Kumar. Harsimranjit Kaur Romana, 2017) Electricity waste management dioxide (CO 2 ), methane and other greenhouse gasses that cause global warming (IEA, 2017).…”

“…While all those actions are also irresponsible which are taken consciously. Inappropriate actions which are taken due to laziness (Balta-Ozkan et al , 2013), traditional habits (Ajit Prabhu et al , 2013), higher income (Vassileva and Campillo, 2014) and security threats (Chitnis, Deshpande and Shaligram, 2016) develop consumers’ conscious irresponsible behavior. It will be hard to deal with the issue of wasteful consumption unless and until practitioner and policy makers do not get the know-how of the both behavioral aspects.…”