Role of Socio-Demographic, Building Characteristics and Psychological Factors in Households Electricity Consumption : A Case Study in G-10 sector (Islamabad)

Abstract

This study is interdisciplinary research of socio demographic, building and psychological variables that impact household‘s electricity consumption for the identification of opportunities for the conservation of electricity. In current scenario this study holds its significance because more than 50% of the total electricity consumption in Pakistan is used by households. A case study was conducted in G-10 sector of Islamabad, Pakistan through questionnaire and IESCO electricity bills. social–psychological behavior was studied using; the theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991) and the norm activation model (NAM; Schwartz, 1977); applicable for explaining human behavior towards conservation and environmental behaviors. It has been observed that households with electricity conservation attitude and households who feel moral obligation towards environment protection shows electricity conservation behavior. The study further showed that the households are aware that usage of electricity contributes in issues related with the environment but this awareness is not transmitted through their behavior, as found from our empirical results. Income and household appliances played significant role in consumption of household electricity.