Paul Howard-Jones – Consumer learning journeys: An interdisciplinary framework to support Net Zero adoption
Paul Howard-Jones // University of Bristol // Energy Systems Catapult // Net Zero
The project, a collaboration between Paul Howard-Jones and Energy Systems Catapult focused on attempts by the UK energy industry to foster adoption of low carbon heating technology by mainstream customers. The UK government’s targets (to deploy 600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028, and up to 1.9 million per year by 2035) are ambitious, since studies suggest widespread deployment of innovative energy technology requires several decades to reach maturity. Key factors influencing adoption of new energy technology such as heat pumps are thought to extend beyond mere economic comparisons to include knowledge and understanding, attitudes and beliefs. The detailed processes by which these factors operate are researched within the specialist fields of psychology, education and neuroscience, suggesting these fields might valuably inform design and communication of innovative energy products.
However, insights from these fields are not routinely exploited to inform communications with potential customers. The project addressed the challenge of identifying relevant insights from these diverse fields and to produce these in an accessible form for use by the energy sector
when seeking to develop positive trusting relationships with consumers. The project aimed to bring together current understanding of non-monetary aspects of consumer-decision making from psychology, neuroscience and education to theoretically frame a “learning journey” of customers from current to future energy worlds. It sought to reveal this journey in a form suitable for communication to the energy industry inductor and to identify factors contributing to trust and positive responding, as well as potential touchpoints and levers that would support consumer adoption of renewable energy technologies.