The objective of the project is to improve our understanding of attitudes among Chinese urban consumers towards energy and energy efficiency and of their purchasing behaviours with respect to household energy-using appliances. The specific research questions include:
- How aware are Chinese consumers of the government’s energy saving policies and in what forms do consumers receive information about these policies?
- To what degree do consumers understand and to what degree are they sympathetic to the government’s energy efficiency policies?
- To what extent has consumer buying behaviour changed since 2005 with respect to household energy-using appliances and what specific components of government policy have driven these changes in behaviour?
The study is being carried out in the municipality of Chongqing, in south-west China. A questionnaire survey of 250 citizens was carried out in 2009-2010 and the results should be available from late 2011.
The project was financed by the Nuffield Foundation, and is being carried out in collaboration with the Marketing Department of the School of Economics and Business Administration of Chongqing University.
