Consumers’ Attitude towards Renewable Energy in the Context of the Energy Crisis

Abstract

The use of renewable energy (RE) is considered one of the most important topics of discussion regarding sustainable consumption and environmental protection nowadays. More than ever, a new energy crisis is forming due to the effect of political and military conflicts that have already been in place for some time. Our research envisages using a sample of 1126 respondents for the validation of a theoretical model that highlights the complex relationship between specific variables, such as concern for the environment, knowledge about renewable energy, perceived utility regarding RE usage, ease of use regarding RE, attitude toward RE utilization and behavioral intentions to use RE. The results show that attitudes towards renewable energy consumption are strongly influenced by the other latent constructs with perceived utility, social influence and concern for the environment being among the most determining ones. Behavioral intentions and the actual consumption behavior for RE are more and more clearly expressed in terms of decisions regarding the type of renewable energy technology preferred by consumers, and correlations with variables such as the level of education and higher income are easily highlighted.