A Cross-Market Study of Consumers’ Attitudes to Green electricity
Fridrik Larsen

Abstract
In the wake of the liberalization of electricity markets, both energy companies engaged in selling household consumers green electricity products, and policy makers wanting to stimulate green electricity products usage share the need to understand green electricity buyers. The paper presents findings from exploratory research on consumers’attitudes towards green electricity. The paper draws on findings from qualitative research where data was collected from five countries. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze the responses from 83 electricity consumers collected via focus groups. Several factors were identified, shared and country specific, which may be considered when promoting green electricity. Among the shared factors are the identical nature of electricity, local production, skepticism and corporate social responsibility. The paper concludes that promoting green electricity requires an in-depth understanding of consumers’ perceptions and a realization that consumers perceive the concept ‘green’ in quite different ways from traditional definitions.

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