A STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF BEHAVIOURAL INHIBITION SYSTEM (BIS) AND BEHAVIOURAL ACTIVATION SYSTEM (BAS) ON HOUSEHOLD ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN HANGZHOU, CHINA

Abstract

China is the world’s largest producer and consumer for coal-generated energy, which contribute significantly to global environmental and health implications. The residential sector in China is the 2nd largest energy consuming industry among all. Despite numerous energy efficient strategies, there are limited studies relates to the psychological intervention and even fewer studies done on Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS) and Behavioural Activation System (BAS). Hence, this paper will look into the effectiveness of BIS and BAS in reducing Household Energy Consumption (HEC) in Hangzhou, China to bridge the gap. This study will primarily evaluate the effectiveness of BIS and BAS in influencing HEC (peak, non-peak and total usage) of different intervention groups (4 groups: Sticker with feedback, Sticker without feedback, WeChat with feedback and Consultation) in the residential buildings of Hangzhou, China. On a secondary basis, the mediation effect (indirect effect) of Behaviour from BIS and BAS will also be evaluated. A sample size of 193 household participants were used to conduct DiD calculations and various statistical analysis, namely the Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test, Regression Analysis and Sobel test. The results were that the manipulation of peak and off peak charges were effective for the effect of BIS and BAS intervention on HEC. BIS has significant results on the reduction of peak and total HEC, while BAS has significant result on the reduction of non-peak HEC. Among all groups, Sticker with feedback group has the most consistent significant results of BIS or BAS with or without Behaviour on HEC for all 3 intervention months (April, May and June 16). However, the use of BIS or BAS has no significant mediating effect through Behaviour (mediator) in reducing HEC. The results of the study had also evidently showed the effect of other possible factors such as habits, influence of social norms in the community via feedbacks, Hawthorne effect etc. Further studies are recommended to be done, however it is essential to take into account of the limitations and lesson learnt from this paper for the fruition of a more holistic evaluation and understanding of the effects of BIS and BAS on HEC.