Raising awareness of the cost-competitiveness of renewable energy technologies through interactive communication tools–quasi-experimental evidence

By adopting renewable energy technologies (RETs) such as renewable heating systems (RHSs) and electric vehicles (EVs), households can contribute to climate change mitigation while simultaneously potentially coping with rising carbon prices. However, the adoption rates for both types of RETs in Germany are still too low. Among other factors, these low rates can be attributed to a lack of awareness of the technologies' cost-competitiveness, which may prevent people from making the investments. A novel approach for raising this awareness lies in the use of interactive communication tools (ICTs), which offer information of the cost-competitiveness and thus the opportunity to promote investments in RETs. This study investigated whether the use of ICTs is associated with a raise of awareness of the cost-competitiveness of RETs. Forms of awareness we investigated were the perception of upfront costs associated with the investments, the perceived scope of action to make the investments, and the perceived financial response efficacy of the investments. Using a pre−/posttest quasi-experimental 2 × 3 design, participants ( N = 859) were assigned to one of two ICTs, with a focus on either RHSs ( n = 400) or EVs ( n = 459). By implementing several hierarchical linear models, we found that using both ICTs was partly associated with a raise in participants' awareness of the cost-competitiveness of the RETs. Additional analyses showed that one of these effects was moderated by participants' income. Our results have practical implications, offering insights into how ICTs can be used to foster households' adoption of RHSs and EVs in Germany.