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Title: Accelerating demand for residential solar photovoltaics: Can simple framing strategies increase consumer interest?

Journal Article · · Global Environmental Change
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [3];  [3]
  1. Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States); Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  3. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
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Household adoption of energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies has the potential to significantly reduce emissions from electricity generation. High upfront costs, however, are often a barrier to adoption, even when costs may be offset by future energy savings. Through a series of randomized experiments, we examine whether framing strategies grounded in behavioral economics and psychology can be used to increase the financial appeal of such products. Using mock ads for residential solar photovoltaics (PV), we test four frames: gain/loss framing, temporal framing, varied savings amounts, and simple vs. detailed savings calculations. Overall, we find that reframing the financial benefits of PV does not greatly influence the appeal of solar or the likelihood to respond to the mock ads. Instead, underlying consumer motivations and predispositions (i.e., perceived social support, consumer innovativeness, and personal pro-environmental norms) are the primary factors driving interest in adopting solar. Our findings suggest that tailoring messages to targeted consumer segments may be more effective than attempts to market the financial benefits of PV to broad audiences. Furthermore, the results also contribute to behavioral economics and psychology research by identifying contexts under which the gain/loss framing bias and the present/future framing bias may not apply.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308; SM13SA01; SM13SB01
OSTI ID:
1476980
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1778484
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-6A20-70069
Journal Information:
Global Environmental Change, Vol. 53, Issue C; ISSN 0959-3780
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 25 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (2)

Peer influence on household energy behaviours journal January 2020
From Words to Deeds: The Impact of Pro-Environmental Self-Identity on Green Energy Purchase Intention journal September 2021

Figures / Tables (3)

Fig. 1(p. 3)figure Fig. 1
Table 1(p. 5)table Table 1
Fig. 2(p. 7)figure Fig. 2

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
residential solar photovoltaics
energy investments
message framing
prospect theory
loss aversion
construal level theory