This presentation draws on two large-scale online survey studies conducted in the United States, one about public support and intention to adopt smart meter infrastructure (SMI) and the other about intention to use and to pay for a SMI-enabled home energy management system (HEMS), both of which investigated the social-psychological and demographic factors. The potential influencers were proposed from well-established theories including Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and Sustainable Energy Technology Acceptance (SETA) Model, as well as from industry knowledge. In the first study, 711 US residents participated, and over 80% of them felt at least somewhat supportive for the installation of SMI. But in the meanwhile, about a quarter of the participants expressed some trust or privacy concerns. A structural equation model reveals that two perceived SMI attributes, usefulness and risk to privacy, had direct effects on public support and intention to install smart meters, while the other attribute, perceived cost, had no impact. Democrats reported higher levels of trust and environmental concern, which affected support and intention through perceived the factors of usefulness and privacy risks. Approximately, 1193 residents from New York City participated in the second study. Data shows that while over 65% of the participants reported themselves as likely to use HEMS in the future, more than two thirds were not willing to pay an even very small monthly fee. Regression results showed that perceived usefulness, perceived cost, attitudes, and social norms were the most relevant predictors; the concern for being too dependent on technologies also significantly and negatively affected the intention; older participants reported higher intention to use HEMS than younger ones. These findings are useful to industry practitioners and policy makers. Additionally, our studies demonstrated a framework in which the effects of multiple social-psychological factors should be carefully examined.

Track Speaker 2: Chien-fei Chen

Published in: World Congress on Sustainable Technologies (WCST-2017)

• Date of Conference: 11-14 December 2017
• DOI: 10.20533/WCST.2017.0002
• ISBN: 978-1-908320-78-0
• Conference Location: University of Cambridge, UK