A social practice view on product efficiency policies

Panel: 9. Dynamics of consumption

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Author:
Hans-Paul Siderius, Netherlands Enterprise Agency, The Netherlands

Abstract

Many product efficiency policies are based on a barrier model and assume an economic rational user: once the informational, financial or other hurdles are removed by the policy instruments, the large potential of energy savings will be unlocked. The great advantage of this model is that this directly maps the policy instruments to the problems. However, it is poor in understanding real life and the delivery in terms of energy savings is not sufficient to prevent global warming. The barrier model and the economic rational user have been criticized for a several decades. Inspired by this criticism, the assumption is that a fuller and richer analysis of the daily behavior of people results in a better understanding of that behavior and thereby in better product efficiency policies. However, although these cross-disciplinary models may offer a better understanding, they do not offer a larger array of policy instruments. In this paper we use social practice theory to explore this further. Social practices have been used to analyze behavior related to energy consumption but little attention has been paid to the relation between social practices and policy instruments.

The paper shows how social practices can be used in policy making: social practices organize the stream of real life activities by providing meaning, models reduce complexity of social practices and introduce causality focusing on those aspects that can be affected by policies. Based on the analysis of how social practices can change, the paper shows how policy instruments can be related to social practices. The main clues for product policy are product standards and changing context, triggering conscious reflection and presenting alternative actions. However, since time for reflection on and processing of alternatives is scarce, instruments that rely on this mechanism should be used selectively. The paper suggests a less rosy picture for product efficiency policy than the barrier approach does. Effective product policy is not a technocratic exercise but requires firstly political leadership to set clear goals and get public support for them knowing these goals will seriously change people's lives.