Encouraging the household energy efficiency of high-income earners - towards an approach for South Africa.
| dc.contributor.advisor | Fincham, Robert John. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Hurth, Victoria. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2011-08-16T09:50:24Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2011-08-16T09:50:24Z | |
| dc.date.created | 2005 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2005 | |
| dc.description | Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005. | en |
| dc.description.abstract | High-income households are important for advancing energy efficiency in South Africa and yet little is known about how to encourage lower energy use behaviour in this group. This paper sets out the case for wide-scale research into how to encourage high-income earners to be more energy efficient behaviour in the home and presents the results of a prototype study. Behaviour change research offers no one framework for investigating behaviour in this group. However, the Theory of Planned Behaviour is a model, which has been successfully employed to understand and formulate behaviour interventions across a wide range of subject, including household energy use. In order to understand the potential of this model as a way of investigating how to encourage energy efficient household behaviour of high-income earners, a study investigating the model's practical and theoretical issues and benefits was undertaken . Component A sets the case for the important role high-income earners can play in achieving energy efficiency targets, summarises the history of relevant psychological research and establishes a methodology for the study. Component B summarises the case for the study and presents the research results and lessons learned in the style of a journal paper. The results suggest that the model has promise. Attitudes, Subjective Norms and Perceived Behavioural Controls accounted for 63.7% of the variance in intention of the sample to be energy efficient in the home. However, the study indicates that the model, although useful, is not sufficient for understanding actual behaviour and informing appropriate practica l interventions. Consequently a number of suggestions are made as to how to design a future research approach. | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10413/3430 | |
| dc.subject | Energy conservation--Economic aspects--South Africa. | en |
| dc.subject | Energy consumption--Economic aspects--South Africa. | en |
| dc.subject | Energy consumption--Research--South Africa. | en |
| dc.subject | Electric power--Conservation--Research--South Africa. | en |
| dc.subject | Electric power--Consumption--Research--South Africa. | en |
| dc.subject | Theses--Environmental science. | en |
| dc.title | Encouraging the household energy efficiency of high-income earners - towards an approach for South Africa. | en |
| dc.type | Thesis |