Pro-Environmental Consumer Behaviour: Cross Country Differences

Abstract

This paper investigates country variations in environmentally friendly consumer behaviour across Europe. The purpose is to detect if countries have different inclinations to respond to the urgency of environmental protection. Such variation could be informative on developing national and international climate policies and energy regulations. To investigate this, a regression analysis was performed using data from the European Social Survey (ESS) round 8th in 2016 (2nd edition). As the dependent variable, “willingness to pay for the most energy efficient household appliance” was used. Countries were used as key variables and several other control variables, both at individual- and country-level, were used. Results showed that there is significant difference between countries. Some countries were affected by the addition of control variables and changed throughout the analysis. Others remained fairly consistent throughout. Country level variables, GDP per capita and electricity prices, were expected to account for some variation. Results proved no such trend, however.