Is saving energy mainly a matter of technology and bills, or a question of mindset? A research team from several Polish universities, including Dr. Marcin Awdziej and Prof. Jolanta Tkaczyk from the Marketing Department of Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego, set out to answer this question in a large-scale study published in the journal Energies.
From values to everyday decisions
The authors analysed survey data from households across Poland using a CAWI method and structural equation modelling. Their aim was to understand how green consumer values, knowledge about energy saving, energy awareness, and perceived costs influence two types of behaviour. The first includes investment-oriented actions such as replacing household appliances with more efficient ones or undertaking thermal retrofitting. The second consists of everyday habits, for example switching off unnecessary lights or using eco modes in household devices.
The conclusion is clear. Energy efficiency truly starts in the mind, shaped by values and knowledge, but it often collides with a very tangible barrier: cost.
Green values translate into real behaviour
The study shows that individuals guided by strong green consumer values tend to have higher knowledge of energy-saving practices and greater energy awareness. They better understand their electricity bills, tariffs, and actual consumption levels.
These two factors activate different pathways of pro-environmental behaviour. Knowledge about saving energy most strongly drives investment decisions, such as purchasing energy-efficient appliances or modernising a home. Energy awareness, understood as knowing how much energy is actually used and paid for, is more closely linked to daily consumption-reducing practices, often described as curtailment behaviours.
Interestingly, green values also help to soften the perception of costs. People with strong pro-environmental beliefs tend to see investments in energy efficiency as less burdensome. This does not mean, however, that the problem disappears. Costs remain one of the strongest barriers to behavioural change.
Costs as a brake on transformation
The model developed by the authors shows that even with high awareness and knowledge, perceived costs can significantly reduce people’s willingness to act. If saving energy is seen as expensive, inconvenient, or reducing comfort, both investment decisions and everyday energy-saving habits become less likely.
In practice, this means that education and value-based appeals alone are not enough. Even highly aware consumers who understand their electricity bills and care about climate issues may refrain from investing in new technologies or changing habits if the costs seem too high or the effort disproportionate.
The authors emphasise that effective energy policy should combine three elements. It should strengthen green values, improve access to clear and practical information and tools, such as applications that visualise energy consumption, and genuinely lower cost barriers through subsidies, tax incentives, or simple and accessible support programmes.
Energy transition through the lens of consumer psychology
The article published in Energies presents the energy transition from a consumer psychology perspective. On the one hand, it confirms that Polish households have significant potential to become active participants in the green transition, provided their values, knowledge, and awareness are effectively mobilised. On the other hand, it reminds policymakers and practitioners that without financial support and a reduction in perceived costs, even the best-designed educational campaigns may fall short.
The energy transition will not happen only in power plants, on rooftops covered with photovoltaic panels, or in strategic policy documents. It begins much closer to home: in people’s minds and wallets, in everyday decisions about what to buy, how to heat their homes, and whether leaving the light on in an empty room really makes sense.
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Awdziej, M., Dudek, D., Gajdzik, B., Jaciow, M., Lipowska, I., Lipowski, M., Tkaczyk, J., Wolniak, R., & Wolny, R. (2025). Energy Efficiency Starts in the Mind: How Green Values and Awareness Drive Citizens’ Energy Transformation. Energies, 18(16), 4331. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18164331
