Knowing me, knowing you: the role of trust, locus of control and privacy concern in acceptance of domestic electricity demandside response

摘要

Choosing to take part in a demand-side response (DSR) programmeentails accepting external influence over one’s energyconsumption patterns, such as through price or direct loadcontrol (DLC) signals. If participation is low, the programmewill be ineffective. How might people’s perceptions of their relationshipwith the influencing entity affect the likelihood ofparticipation? This study used a representative survey of GreatBritain (N=2002) to explore the importance of trust, privacyconcern and locus of control for acceptance of different approachesto influencing electricity consumption.Survey respondents were randomly shown a description ofone of five DSR products (static time of use [TOU] tariff, staticTOU with automated response to price changes, dynamic TOU,dynamic TOU with automated response, and DLC), framed asbeing offered by their electricity supplier. They then respondedto a number of scales including those intended to measure trustin their supplier, privacy concern and locus of control.Controlling for demographic variables, trust in electricity supplierwas significantly positively associated with acceptance ofall tariffs, although the effect size was smaller for the automatedTOU tariffs. The specific measure of trust in the supplier to ensurea reliable electricity supply was significantly negatively associatedwith acceptance of the dynamic TOU tariff. Privacy concernwas significantly negatively associated with acceptance of alltariffs, with the strongest effect for the automated dynamic TOUtariff. Locus of control was a significant factor only in the caseof DLC, where external locus was related to higher acceptance.These results suggest the existing low levels of trust in energycompanies in the UK may present a challenge in securing uptakeof DSR, and an opportunity to trusted entrants from othersectors. Automation within the home may mitigate trust concerns,but people must have sufficient confidence in the privacyof this arrangement. DLC may be viewed especially positivelyby people who currently perceive themselves to have little controlover their energy use, but protections should be in place toensure they are not exploited.