Studies on household energy use generally focus on social and psychological factors influencing the acceptability of energy-saving measures. However, the influence of physical characteristics of energy-saving measures on their acceptability is largely ignored. In this study, preferences for different types of energy-saving measures were examined. Energy-saving measures differed in the domain of energy savings, energy-saving strategy, and the amount of energy savings (small versus large energy savings). Energy-saving strategy appeared to be the most important characteristic influencing the acceptability of energy-saving measures. In general, technical improvements were preferred over behavioral measures and especially shift in consumption. The amount of energy savings was the least important characteristic: there was hardly any difference in the acceptability of measures with small and large energy savings. Except for respondents differing in environmental concern, there were no differences in average acceptability of the energy-saving measures between respondent groups.
Gandhi et al. (Sun,) studied this question.