Resources such as energy and water are forecasted to become scarcer in the future. The traditional engineering approach for dealing with this problem can be compromised by the rebound effect. Therefore, it is important that we design products that also encourage users to engage in pro-environmental behaviours, also known as environmentally significant behaviours (ESB). Lead-user theory was first applied to the problem of ESB, resulting in the discovery that resources, when presented in discrete instead of continuous form, enable conservation. The principle was verified empirically. A method was developed to help designers develop products that implement the discretization principle without compromising user needs. Affordance theory was also applied to the problem of ESB. Two methods, one to expedite the finding of affordances and the second to change a product’s affordances to enable ESB, were developed. The application of design theory and techniques to the ESB problem shows promise.

Resources such as energy and water are forecasted to become scarcer in the future. The traditional engineering approach for dealing with this problem can be compromised by the rebound effect. Therefore, it is important that we design products that also encourage users to engage in pro-environmental behaviours, also known as environmentally significant behaviours (ESB). Lead-user theory was first applied to the problem of ESB, resulting in the discovery that resources, when presented in discrete instead of continuous form, enable conservation. The principle was verified empirically. A method was developed to help designers develop products that implement the discretization principle without compromising user needs. Affordance theory was also applied to the problem of ESB. Two methods, one to expedite the finding of affordances and the second to change a product’s affordances to enable ESB, were developed. The application of design theory and techniques to the ESB problem shows promise.

Research into energy demand in office buildings has tended to focus on building fabric or systems, or the organisation as a whole, rather than the actions or motivations of individual building occupants. This study applies an attitude-behaviour approach used more frequently with household or travel behaviours to energy demand behaviours by individual occupants in office settings. The approach is extended to include contextual factors such as behavioural control, organisational expectations and social influences. Comparisons are drawn between the office and home settings. The study took place in the offices of two local authorities, Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council, and included a questionnaire survey (n=819), semi-structured interviews (n=9), and building surveys (n=5). Behaviours examined included switching off lights, computers and computer monitors. Lighting behaviours were reported to be carried out more frequently than computer monitor behaviours in both the office and household settings. Analysis of behaviours identified that they needed to be considered at a specific level, according to the equipment (lighting, computer monitors), setting (office, home), and triggers (finishing a task, leaving a room). The physical context of the behaviour was particularly important. Different levels of individual control over energy affected the performance of behaviours. No evidence was found to support the notion of spillover that enacting one energy demand behaviour might lead to the enactment of further energy demand behaviours, including for similar behaviours performed in different settings (e.g. the office and the home). Organisational, social and psychological/attitudinal influences on individual behaviour were also examined. Structural Equation Modelling examined influences proposed by the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Values-Beliefs-Norms Theory. Neither theory provided a strong explanation of the collected data. However, support was found for the Perceived Behavioural Control construct, while moral and value-led constructs had a small influence on behaviour. This thesis provides recommendations for practitioners and policy makers seeking to reduce individual-level energy demand in office settings, and for future research into energy use in organisational settings. Recommendations include promoting energy saving as an aspect of professionalism, characterising energy demand behaviours specifically by setting and equipment, and recognising the importance of the social aspects of shared office environments.

This thesis aims to discover possibilities of using products that mechanically transform to support environmentally significant behaviour (ESB), a term that refers to intentional behaviour of an individual to change the natural world. The first half of the work explored the potential relationship between mechanical transformation principles and certain ESBs. This exploration found that implementing transformative mechanisms in products enabled spontaneous use of the products in unanticipated situations. For example, a collapsible reusable shopping bag helped users avoid purchasing disposable bags when they went to grocery stores impulsively. The second half studied a variety of organisms to identify transformation patterns in nature. These patterns were summarized in a two-dimensional matrix to facilitate conceptual design of transformable products. In summary, this work showed that mechanical transformation facilitates at least three types of ESB, and also developed a new tool to assist designers in developing conceptual transformable products that can support ESBs.

This thesis aims to discover possibilities of using products that mechanically transform to support environmentally significant behaviour (ESB), a term that refers to intentional behaviour of an individual to change the natural world. The first half of the work explored the potential relationship between mechanical transformation principles and certain ESBs. This exploration found that implementing transformative mechanisms in products enabled spontaneous use of the products in unanticipated situations. For example, a collapsible reusable shopping bag helped users avoid purchasing disposable bags when they went to grocery stores impulsively. The second half studied a variety of organisms to identify transformation patterns in nature. These patterns were summarized in a two-dimensional matrix to facilitate conceptual design of transformable products. In summary, this work showed that mechanical transformation facilitates at least three types of ESB, and also developed a new tool to assist designers in developing conceptual transformable products that can support ESBs.

The pursuit of sustainability and the preservation of natural resources in consumers’ product choice and –consumption is a worldwide concern. This research therefore focused on the relevance and inter relationship of various motivational factors in contributing to consumers’ pro-environmental intent to purchase eco-friendly appliances in the local context. Since pro-environmental intent does not inexorably lead to environmentally significant choice behaviour, the study also investigated consumers’ prioritization of environmentally related product features in the pre-purchase evaluation and selection of major household appliances. The perspective of those with increased spending power as well as access to a wide variety of products in major urban areas (e.g. Tshwane) was of specific interest. A store intercept method with a non-probability purposive sampling approach was used to recruit respondents in stores while they were in the process of acquiring appliances. A structured questionnaire was administered in face-to-face interviews. A total of 667 questionnaires were collected, of which 648 were used for structural equation modelling and conjoint analyses. Based on the construct associations specified in a structural equation model, an awareness of environmental consequences related to product choice and consumption emerged as an indirect determinant of pro-environmental intent and represents an important precondition for the formation of subjective norms and moral attitudes. A strong and statistically significant relationship between subjective norms and moral attitudes underscore the importance of a social group’s standards in the formation of an individual’s own moral norms and attitudes. In relation to perceived behavioural control, subjective norms may fulfill an informative role when consumers are less confident in their own ability to comprehensively evaluate and select a washing machine with eco-friendly attributes. A combination of moral norms, attitudes and anticipated feelings of guilt significantly contributed to respondents’ pro-environmental intent, and even though they seemed somewhat less convinced about how easy it is to choose eco-friendly appliances, their intentions to buy such appliances consistently reflect a pro-environmental inclination. Using Sawtooth conjoint software, trade-off tasks were compiled to determine the relative importance of environmentally related attributes in relation to other conventional features in consumers’ pre-purchase evaluation and selection of washing machines. Aggregate results reveal that consumers across various age, income and educational levels prioritise brand and price, despite the long-term financial and environmental repurcussions of product features that impact on the use of natural resources. Based on a cluster analysis, four consumer segments were identified that differ in terms of preference structures. Overall, respondents rely on price and brand associations to guide their decision-making due to their inability and inexperience to objectively assess the environmental attributes of a product, which then ultimately contradicts their observed pro-environmental intent. From a practical point of view, the findings substantiate the development of tailored intervention strategies to facilitate informed decision-making and deliberation of consequences that extend beyond the initial selection of a particular product option. Strategies that emphasize the financial benefits of environmentally related features that span over the entire life cycle of the appliance might prove influential in promoting pro-environmental choices. From a theoretical perspective, the research expands an existing body of knowledge by establishing insight about consumers’ behaviour in a Third-World emerging context. In addition, it provides evidence regarding the application of existing theory and methods to explain the inconsistency between consumers’ assumed pro-environmental intent and their actual observed choices in the execution of a more complex, expensive and significant act of acquiring major household appliances. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Consumer Science / PhD / Unrestricted

Iva Zvěřinová PhD Thesis Public Preferences for Environmental Policies and Behavioural Changes Abstract Environmental problems, such as climate change, are generally perceived as serious issues by the public in European countries. However, people tend to assign them a low policy priority and disagree with the introduction of some policy instruments, such as carbon tax. Few people also behave in an environmentally friendly way and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. What are the preferences of the inhabitants of several European countries regarding climate mitigation policies and behavioural changes? What makes these policies more acceptable for the public? Would people from these countries be willing to accept climate mitigation policies or behaviour, and if so, under what conditions? This thesis aims to answer these questions by applying a theoretical framework that integrates attitudes and perceptions with preferences. In the empirical part of the thesis, we analyse data from several questionnaire surveys on public responses to climate policies and climate-related behaviours in several European countries. The thesis contains four empirical studies focusing on: i. public preferences for climate mitigation policies; ii. public preferences for policy instruments to reduce GHG emissions; iii. consumers'...