An innovative analytical framework for energy consumption behavior: A study based on beijing households

Area of Science:

• Environmental Psychology
• Behavioral Economics
• Public Policy

Background:

• Resident energy consumption behavior significantly impacts carbon reduction goals and policy effectiveness.
• Existing frameworks lack a comprehensive approach to internal psychological and external environmental factors influencing energy use.
• There is a need for an integrated model to better understand and influence residents' energy consumption patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an expanded framework that integrates internal psychological and external environmental factors influencing residents' energy consumption behavior.
• To identify key determinants of energy consumption behavior among Beijing residents.
• To provide theoretical and empirical foundations for enhancing low-carbon policies.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and theoretical integration of Planned Behavior theory and Value-Belief-Norm theory.
• Development of a novel framework incorporating economic factors, policy impact, convenience, knowledge level, behavioral expectations, and consumption habits.
• Data collection via questionnaire survey, followed by outlier detection and confirmatory factor analysis.

Main Results:

• The proposed expanded framework demonstrates high explanatory power for residents' energy consumption behavior, outperforming existing models.
• Key internal psychological and external environmental factors significantly influencing energy consumption were identified.
• A critical path analysis revealed specific determinants of energy consumption behavior among Beijing residents.

Conclusions:

• The integrated framework provides a robust foundation for analyzing residents' energy consumption behavior.
• The findings offer valuable insights for designing and improving the effectiveness of low-carbon policies.
• The study contributes to a deeper understanding of the psychological and environmental drivers of energy use in households.