Sustainable Consumption in the Anthropocene - Challenges and Opportunities of Individual Changes in Residential Energy Consumption
Energy consumption is influenced by many variables and varies widely between individuals. In sociology, it is assumed that behavioural differences can be described by features of social inequality. However, research has shown that the complexity of behaviour cannot be explained by socio-demographic and socio-economic variables alone. Therefore, the use of attitude-based approaches, such as lifestyle and milieu-based approaches, has increased in recent years in order to understand individual energy consumption in more depth. These approaches often focus on the 'ABC' paradigm ('Attitudes - Behaviour Choice'; Shove 2010), but don't achieve the desired success because everyday energy behaviour is not understood as a social practice consisting of routines and depending on material-spatial aspects in addition to knowledge and attitudes. However, the material-spatial aspects significantly determine the possibilities for behaviour change and must be taken into account in order to promote environmentally sustainable energy behaviour.
This contribution discusses the possibilities to change the individual behaviour of consumers and introduces a theoretical concept based on the milieu-based approach and the theory of social practices, which focuses on both social and material-spatial aspects. Based on a quantitative study of residential heating in Vienna with 977 participants, challenges and opportunities for individual change in residential energy consumption are identified and recommendations are given for more effectively promoting environmentally friendly residential energy consumption.