Sarah Herz

Green Power Already out of Breath? Why Do German Consumers Not Switch to Green Electricity? Sarah Herz

The following investigation provides a profound analysis on the motives that hinder German consumers from shifting to green power vendors. While academic research provides many potential reasons, only a few investigations have so far dealt with internal and external influences on switching behavior as well as actual compliance with theoretical models. In this context, a survey has been undertaken in the Federal State of Mecklenburg-West-Pomerania to analyze the personal relevance of different motives for consumers. Furthermore, the survey also aimed at analyzing the compliance of theoretical criteria, provided by the Norm Activation Model, and the Theory of Planned Behavior in order to see whether respondents intend to switch after all. Therefore, the survey was distributed via the snowball system, and has been completed by 115 respondents, providing data on 77 respondents who still consume conventional power.