Ebrahimigharehbaghi, S (2022) Understanding the decision-making process in homeowner energy retrofits: From behavioural and transaction cost perspectives. PhD thesis, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands.
Abstract
In 2020, owner-occupied housing accounted for 57% of the housing stock in the Netherlands. Homeowners are fully responsible for the implementation of energy retrofits. Moreover, the processes of energy retrofitting are complex and homeowners face problems such as finding financial support, reliable information and contractors. The complexity of implementing energy retrofits may discourage homeowners from continuing the process and achieving the expected benefits. Behavioural aspects and transaction costs (TC) are among the most important factors influencing consumer decision-making processes. Behavioural factors primarily illustrate a range of personal, contextual, and external factors that influence the decision-making process of homeowners. These include cognitive awareness and biases, attitudes and beliefs, experience and skills, homeowner characteristics, sociodemographic characteristics, property characteristics, and the behaviour of others. TC are any hidden costs that influence decision making but are not included in the direct physical costs of renovation services and products. This dissertation developed an integrated framework of behavioural factors and TC that impede the decision-making process for energy retrofits. Key findings include (1) the significant importance of behavioural factors and TC barriers. (2) the behavioural factors are particularly important in the early stages of energy retrofits and the TC barriers after the final decision. (3) the importance of behavioural factors and TC barriers differs according to the type of energy retrofit and non-energy retrofit. (4) Accounting for cognitive biases significantly improves the prediction of households' actual decisions about energy retrofits. This modelling is more accurate than the model that assumes households make rational decisions.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Visscher, H J; Qian, Q K and de Vries, G |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | energy retrofits; decision-making; homeowners; behavioural economics; transaction costs; cognitive bias; residential renovation |
| Index terms: | decision-making, bias, complexity, housing, accounting, energy retrofitting, behavioural economics, transaction cost, homeowner, housing stock, Netherlands, face, renovation, household, implementation, modelling, dissertation, decision-making process, owner |
| Subjects: | Geography, demography, economic models, financial analysis, construction type, research dissemination and communication, psychology, contractual arrangements, economic analysis, analytical methods, renovation and retrofit, design practice, probability and distributions, sociology, decision analysis, industry analysis, systems engineering |
| Topics: | Geographical Context, Engineering Principles, Risk Management, Procurement, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Stakeholder Management, Construction Technology, Design Practice, Urban Studies, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here