Energyguide label information and consumer durable expenditures

The classical model of consumer purchase behavior is extended to accommodate the essential features of durables and their cost to consumers. This model and its associated maximization rules identify the role of information in consumer decision making and permit a clear identification of the role of EnergyGuide Labels as a source of information.

Researchers have stressed the need for education about disclosure information. Under the provisions of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, the Energy, Environment, and Resources Center of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, contracted with the Department of Energy to develop and evaluate educational materials for high school home economics classes. This study compared treatment and control groups in an effort to determine the effectiveness of an instructional/educational program based on the developed materials. Treatment teachers used the Instructional Package for Secondary Home Economics in the instructional program.

The sample of secondary home economics students was drawn from four states: Washington, South Dakota, New York, and Florida. The Posttest Only Control Group Design was employed as a research model for testing the effects of the educational program. Teachers and their classes were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Contingency tables were used to determine the effectiveness of the program, the relationships between attitudes and problems, and the relationship between background information and problems.

The initial analysis of the data did not indicate a significant difference between treatment and control groups. Analysis by grade revealed that the higher the grade the better the performance for both treatment and control. The 12th grade treatment group did significantly better than the corresponding control group.

Other background information was crossed with energy problems, with natural gas and fuel oil use producing significant chi squares. When appliances owned were also crossed with energy problems, the following produced significant chi squares: freezers, furnaces, and clothes washers.

When attitudes/beliefs/intentions were crossed with problem responses, it was found that certain attitudes were predictors of problem responses. Also, it was found that the education materials seemed to have a positive effect on energy attitudes.