PROCRASTINATION AND USER DECISIONS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENT APPLIANCES

Abstract

There has been rising energy consumption in Singapore as she continues to grow in a steadfast manner. Bountiful energy-saving efforts have reaped some promising results but more can always be done. This study aims to deal with a particular energy-saving behaviour - replacing old household appliances for more energy efficient ones. The research team has identified a never-before studied human trait with regards to environmental behaviour in Singapore, namely procrastination. This study aims to identify if procrastination’s effects have an influence over user decisions in the purchase of energy efficient appliances. In addition, a treatment that targets an issue of procrastination will be included to investigate if it helps people to procrastinate lesser when replacing their appliances. The refrigerator was chosen to be the appliance studied. An online questionnaire was used to administer the study. The participants were randomly assigned into the control group or treatment group. It was found that one’s procrastination level had a small positive correlation with one’s intended delay before replacing one’s existing refrigerator for a more energy efficient one. Moreover, the treatment was successful in reducing the intended delay. Nonetheless, this study was based in Singapore and thus, findings ought to be applied with caution in researches for other countries as there might be cultural differences. It is positive looking that this study has explored another avenue where policy-makers can devise energy-saving policies that approach human traits, for instance, procrastination to engage energy-saving behaviours, including but not limited to replacing appliances for more energy efficient ones.