Rural residential energy behaviour: a trans-generational and cross-country research

Energy efficiency and consumption, sustainability and renewable energy sources are increasingly relevant topics in today’s world. Considering the increasing trend of energy use among household consumers in the context of the global energy deficit, the purpose of this study is to examine generational...

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Main Authors: Ciprian-Ioan Rujescu, Andrea Feher, Cosmina-Simona Toader, Elena Claudia Sîrbulescu, Miroslav Raicov, Todor Marković, Željko Kokot
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:Environmental Research Communications
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ade8d9
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author Ciprian-Ioan Rujescu
Andrea Feher
Cosmina-Simona Toader
Elena Claudia Sîrbulescu
Miroslav Raicov
Todor Marković
Željko Kokot
author_facet Ciprian-Ioan Rujescu
Andrea Feher
Cosmina-Simona Toader
Elena Claudia Sîrbulescu
Miroslav Raicov
Todor Marković
Željko Kokot
author_sort Ciprian-Ioan Rujescu
collection DOAJ
description Energy efficiency and consumption, sustainability and renewable energy sources are increasingly relevant topics in today’s world. Considering the increasing trend of energy use among household consumers in the context of the global energy deficit, the purpose of this study is to examine generational attitudinal variables of rural household consumers in Romania and the Republic of Serbia regarding the reduction of electricity consumption. It also studies the importance that household consumers assign to the use of ‘green’ energy in the energy mix, as a key factor for reducing the carbon footprint and sustainable development. The findings demonstrated some differences in the attitudes of respondents from the two analysed countries, corroborated with differences in sustainable behaviour between generations. The main results covering the whole analyzed sample show that the concern and interest in electricity consumption increases with the age of the respondents. Respondents from Generation X are the best informed about the knowledge of measures to reduce electricity consumption. The study reveals a higher degree of information and knowledge among respondents in the Republic of Serbia than in Romania regarding measures to reduce household electricity consumption and, at the same time, an increased interest in both countries for the use of renewable energy sources in the future. These findings highlight the complex dynamics of behavioural factors and their collective impact on attitudes related to sustainable electricity consumption. The study provides insights into how attitudinal variables influence different aspects of electricity consumption reduction behaviour, offering potential directions for interventions aimed at, on the one hand, promoting measures by which energy consumption can be reduced and on the other hand , encouraging the use of renewable energy in the energy system.
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spelling doaj-art-9f3a20fe3c744d1ca47188c23dd5f0e52025-08-20T03:31:30ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Communications2515-76202025-01-017707500410.1088/2515-7620/ade8d9Rural residential energy behaviour: a trans-generational and cross-country researchCiprian-Ioan Rujescu0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0228-7036Andrea Feher1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0360-1149Cosmina-Simona Toader2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1564-8558Elena Claudia Sîrbulescu3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0261-6215Miroslav Raicov4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4271-7099Todor Marković5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2706-4034Željko Kokot6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3615-5835Faculty of Management and Rural Tourism, University of Life Sciences ‘King Mihai I’ from Timisoara , RomaniaFaculty of Management and Rural Tourism, University of Life Sciences ‘King Mihai I’ from Timisoara , Romania; Research Centre for Sustainable Rural Development, Romanian Academy, Branch of Timisoara, RomaniaFaculty of Management and Rural Tourism, University of Life Sciences ‘King Mihai I’ from Timisoara , RomaniaFaculty of Management and Rural Tourism, University of Life Sciences ‘King Mihai I’ from Timisoara , RomaniaResearch Centre for Sustainable Rural Development, Romanian Academy, Branch of Timisoara, RomaniaFaculty of Agriculture, University of Novi Sad , SerbiaFaculty of Agriculture, University of Novi Sad , SerbiaEnergy efficiency and consumption, sustainability and renewable energy sources are increasingly relevant topics in today’s world. Considering the increasing trend of energy use among household consumers in the context of the global energy deficit, the purpose of this study is to examine generational attitudinal variables of rural household consumers in Romania and the Republic of Serbia regarding the reduction of electricity consumption. It also studies the importance that household consumers assign to the use of ‘green’ energy in the energy mix, as a key factor for reducing the carbon footprint and sustainable development. The findings demonstrated some differences in the attitudes of respondents from the two analysed countries, corroborated with differences in sustainable behaviour between generations. The main results covering the whole analyzed sample show that the concern and interest in electricity consumption increases with the age of the respondents. Respondents from Generation X are the best informed about the knowledge of measures to reduce electricity consumption. The study reveals a higher degree of information and knowledge among respondents in the Republic of Serbia than in Romania regarding measures to reduce household electricity consumption and, at the same time, an increased interest in both countries for the use of renewable energy sources in the future. These findings highlight the complex dynamics of behavioural factors and their collective impact on attitudes related to sustainable electricity consumption. The study provides insights into how attitudinal variables influence different aspects of electricity consumption reduction behaviour, offering potential directions for interventions aimed at, on the one hand, promoting measures by which energy consumption can be reduced and on the other hand , encouraging the use of renewable energy in the energy system.https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ade8d9energy mixelectricity‘green’ energysustainable behaviourgenerations
spellingShingle Ciprian-Ioan Rujescu
Andrea Feher
Cosmina-Simona Toader
Elena Claudia Sîrbulescu
Miroslav Raicov
Todor Marković
Željko Kokot
Rural residential energy behaviour: a trans-generational and cross-country research
Environmental Research Communications
energy mix
electricity
‘green’ energy
sustainable behaviour
generations
title Rural residential energy behaviour: a trans-generational and cross-country research
title_full Rural residential energy behaviour: a trans-generational and cross-country research
title_fullStr Rural residential energy behaviour: a trans-generational and cross-country research
title_full_unstemmed Rural residential energy behaviour: a trans-generational and cross-country research
title_short Rural residential energy behaviour: a trans-generational and cross-country research
title_sort rural residential energy behaviour a trans generational and cross country research
topic energy mix
electricity
‘green’ energy
sustainable behaviour
generations
url https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ade8d9
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AT cosminasimonatoader ruralresidentialenergybehaviouratransgenerationalandcrosscountryresearch
AT elenaclaudiasirbulescu ruralresidentialenergybehaviouratransgenerationalandcrosscountryresearch
AT miroslavraicov ruralresidentialenergybehaviouratransgenerationalandcrosscountryresearch
AT todormarkovic ruralresidentialenergybehaviouratransgenerationalandcrosscountryresearch
AT zeljkokokot ruralresidentialenergybehaviouratransgenerationalandcrosscountryresearch