IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2018 - 14

guest editorial

Geertje Schuitema, Linda Steg, and Mark O'Malley

consumer behavior
why engineers need to read about it

EnErgy involvEs EvErybody.
Current changes in energy and power
systems, including the distributed production of renewables, an increasing need
for flexibility of operations, and energy
storage and transmission, affect consumers in one way or another. Changes
often require the active participation and
support of consumers, who may become prosumers. All the new systems
and technologies developed by electrical engineers may influence consumer
behavior and trigger positive or negative responses. Hence, it is important
for electrical engineers to understand
how their work may affect consumers,
which behavior changes their solutions
involve, and which consumer needs and
preferences must be considered when
developing new technology. This issue
encourages a conversation among electrical engineers and social scientists and
facilitates the integration of their different expertise.
There are many different disciplines
in social sciences and humanities, just
as there are various types of engineers. The role of "consumers" in energy systems is studied by many of these
disciplines, and they often use different
concepts, theories, and methods. The
articles in this issue are primarily written by psychologists and sociologists,
who provide their views on the topics
therein. one discussion within social sciences and humanities is about how to refer to individuals and whether or not to
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2017.2762378
Date of publication: 5 January 2018

ieee power & energy magazine

consider different roles of individuals.
Terms used are, among others, people,
consumers, citizens, activists, or voters.
While acknowledging
the importance of the
differences among these
terms, reflecting different roles of individuals,
the authors in this issue
use people or consumers as umbrella terms
for all sorts of roles of individuals, to avoid overly
complicating the message.
This issue of IEEE
Power & Energy Magazine contains five articles that all focus on the
role of consumer behavior in energy research.
The articles give engineers a sense of why it is important to
understand consumer perspectives and
behavior in energy systems. Common
misunderstandings and simplifications
are highlighted about why consumers
respond or act in the way they do and how
this may be changed. Comprehensive approaches to understanding consumer
behavior and tools to change their responses and behavior are offered.
The first article by steg, shwom, and
dietz, "What drives Energy Consumers?," discusses how consumers may
be encouraged to actively engage in a
sustainable energy transition by targeting important drivers of their behavior
and removing significant barriers for
change. drivers and barriers that are
discussed include individual character-

istics, such as knowledge, awareness,
values, identity, and habits. Contextual
factors are discussed: spatial, infrastructural, economic, and
cultural factors; institutional arrangements;
and access to technology, products, services
and information. strategies to change consumer behavior are presented, including those
aimed at changing the
context and knowledge
and motivation, and the
added value of tailored
approaches. Finally, the
relationship between
behavior change and
quality of life is given.
in the second article,
"Communication is Key," authors Abrahamse, darby, and McComas critically
discuss three commonly used "fixes" of
individuals' behavior that may lead to
environmental and energy problems.
Each fix approaches consumer behavior
in a different way and has different assumptions. The technological fix aims to
modify the physical surroundings, which
is assumed to lead to behavioral changes in line with these physical changes.
structural fixes attempt to modify behavior by changing the social context in
which decisions are made, e.g., by implementing regulations. Cognitive fixes
try to change people's behavior by targeting cognitive factors that steer those
behaviors, such as attitudes, beliefs,
and values. The authors argue that none

There are
many different
disciplines in
social sciences
and humanities,
just as there
are many
different types
of engineers.

january/february 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2018