Consumers’ Social Responsibility in the Process of Energy Consumption—The Case of Poland

Kinga Hoffmann-Burdzińska, Agata Stolecka-Makowska, Olaf Flak, Marcin Lipowski and Mariusz Łapczyński
Additional contact information
Kinga Hoffmann-Burdzińska: Department of Digital Economy Research, Faculty of Economics, University of Economics in Katowice, 40-287 Katowice, Poland
Agata Stolecka-Makowska: Department of Digital Economy Research, Faculty of Economics, University of Economics in Katowice, 40-287 Katowice, Poland
Olaf Flak: Department of Management, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, Jan Kochanowski University of Kielce, 25-369 Kielce, Poland
Marcin Lipowski: Department of Marketing, Faculty of Economics, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, 20-031 Lublin, Poland
Mariusz Łapczyński: Department of Market Analysis and Marketing Research, Management Institute, College of Management and Quality Sciences, Cracow University of Economics, 31-510 Krakow, Poland

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 14, 1-17

Abstract: Although European energy policy supports the reduction of energy consumption, the current economic and political situation in Poland and uncertainty related to the origin of energy sources do not support it. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify and assess the factors that affect the energy-saving behaviour of Polish consumers in the process of energy consumption. The research problem concerns the specificity of behaviours that are part of new trends in consumption, such as greening and the ethical dimension of consumption. The research question arises as to what the social responsibility of consumers is in the process of energy consumption. The research problem comes down to the question of factors that determine the behaviour of an individual consumer in the energy market. In order to realise the indicated purpose of the article, a conceptual research model was built and direct research was conducted using the research method, which was an online survey (CAWI). The research was run among 1422 individual consumers. After verifying 14 research hypotheses, it can be concluded that energy-saving behaviour is influenced in similar ways by a set of factors. In the paper there are findings which show that the generally understood energy-saving behaviour (Y1—at home and Y2—off-site) is influenced by the following factors: X1—energy-saving knowledge, X3—green consumer values, X5—social influence, X6—beliefs, and X7—consumer awareness. The specific mechanism of influence of each of the dominant factors is that the higher the intensity of these factors in consumer behaviour, the more actions are taken to save energy inside or outside the home. However, X2—energy-saving cost perception and X4—materialism presents this influence mechanism only for Y1—energy-saving behaviour at home.

Keywords: energy-saving behaviour; consumer social responsibility; energy consumption; energy sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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