Sustainable Behavior among Romanian Students: A Perspective on Electricity Consumption in Households

Abstract

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that the environmental pressure from households will increase significantly by 2030. Sustainable consumption means making consumers aware of the social and environmental impacts of the goods and services they use. In this respect, special attention must be paid to electricity consumption since its generation affects the environment. The present research aims at capturing electricity consumption behaviors among students, after having applied an online questionnaire between March and April 2021, recording 816 responses. The results of this research highlighted the fact that for seven out of fourteen statements, percentages of over 50% for the “always” and “often” answer variants were recorded, but cases when the highest percentages were for the “rarely” and “never” answer variants (e.g., “You read the hours on the light bulb packs before purchasing them”, “You put your mobile phone in the power saving mode so that you don’t have to charge it so often” and “You unplug the electrical and electronic equipment that you do not use”) were also observed. Decrypting consumer behaviors is a key point for building strategies that will lead to consumers’ awareness of conserving electricity in households and, thus, to a reduction in their environmental impact.

Environmental Problems: An Analysis of Students’ Perceptions Towards Selective Waste Collection

“…This category of respondents, i.e., the students of Politehnica University of Timisoara, was included in several other studies, which mainly focused on topics regarding students’ human values ( Dragomir et al, 2020 ) or their attitudes on electricity, water, plastic or paper consumption ( Gherheş and Fărcaşiu, 2021 ; Gherheş et al, 2021 ) but did not discuss the above-mentioned topic.…”

Students’ Awareness Regarding Environment Protection in Campus Life: Evidence from Romania

“…The questionnaire was built and validated through an evaluation process by sociologists after qualitative and quantitative tests (Appendix A). The research tool, inspired by the Eurobarometer parameters [7] and by the findings of previous research [29][30][31], aimed to highlight the acknowledged level of information on environmental issues in the student population, to understand the degree of interest in this topic, and to obtain information on the previous pro-environmental behavior of students and their readiness to engage in future greening activities. It included a variety of questions, both closed and open, and concluded with a series of factual questions relating to demographic issues such as gender, age, year of study, and respondents' current place of residence (on campus, in university-curated student dormitories vs. off-campus living).…”

“…Researchers interested in the topic also chose to offer snapshots of student environmental awareness as baselines to evaluate universities' capacity to shape curricular, research, and student service activities. Home confinement caused by the measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic made students more aware of their use of electricity [29], water, paper, and plastic [30], showing that the adoption of environmentally positive behaviors depends on motivation, environmental knowledge, and the physical availability of sustainable solutions. Research shows a coordinated effort is needed so that students can make informed decisions based on their actual knowledge and practice and feel empowered to act responsively on and off campus [30,31].…”

Factors Influencing Electricity Consumption in Rural Households

“…In several countries, understanding the intricate dynamics of energy consumption in rural households is of paramount importance, revolving around three fundamental pillars: (a) energy for cooking, an indispensable necessity for all households; (b) energy for heating, critical for basic survival; and (c) electricity for powering various household activities, including study, work, food preparation, and entertainment [1][2][3]. The behavior of electricity in rural households presents some unique characteristics and challenges that differ from those in urban households [4].…”