Lacking the confidence of one's convictions: Gender differences in energy tariff literacy

The adoption of demand response programs, where end-users adjust their energy consumption to system constraints, is important for achieving a sustainable energy transition. While prior research has examined households' adoption and responses to price signals and tariffs that are used to elicit demand response, less attention has been given to how information on tariffs is differently understood between genders. This study investigates gender differences in both understanding of energy tariffs (energy tariff literacy) and confidence in understanding such tariffs, and examines whether differences in confidence are attributable to differences in understanding. Using secondary data from two studies ( N = 1367 and N = 783), findings show a small gender gap in energy tariff literacy, with men scoring slightly higher, in one dataset, and no differences in the other. The confidence gap was substantially larger in both datasets; men reported greater confidence than women, a difference largely unexplained by differences in energy tariff literacy. These results extend gender confidence effects observed in other domains to energy literacy and understanding. Practically, the confidence gap may affect household decisions relating to energy consumption patterns, and risk that behaviour change or investment decisions are made by those with the strongest perceived knowledge, rather than actual knowledge. These findings emphasize the need for a gender-sensitive approach to demand response program design.