Energy Policy 107 (2017) 459–471

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Energy Policy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol

A moral extension of the theory of planned behavior to predict consumers’ MARK

purchase intention for energy-efficient household appliances in Malaysia
⁎
Chin-Seang Tan, Hooi-Yin Ooi, Yen-Nee Goh
Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia

A R T I C L E I N F O A BS T RAC T

Keywords: Electricity consumption throughout the world has been rapidly increasing in past decades. However, the current
Theory of planned behavior investment trend is showing signs of power supply inadequacy. Hence, many countries have embraced energy
Consumer purchase intention efficiency as a partial solution to looming energy problems. In reality, many people are not replacing their
Energy efficient household appliances household appliances with energy-efficient ones. The use of energy efficient products in Malaysia is still at
Malaysia
unsatisfactory level. Hence, this study aims at closing the gap by applying the moral extension of the theory of
planned behavior (TPB) to examine the determinants of consumers’ purchase intention for energy-efficient
household appliances. A survey using self-administered questionnaires was administered to 210 consumers in
Penang, Malaysia, and Partial Least Square (PLS) regression was used to test the hypotheses. The findings show
that consumer’ more-favorable attitudes toward energy-efficient household appliances and perceived behavioral
control significantly influence consumers’ purchase intention for such products. This study also proved the
extension of moral norm in the classic theory of planned behavior to be a significant predictor for consumers’
purchase intention. Policy implications like creating awareness for Energy Star Labelling, enhancing Minimum
Energy Performance Standard (MEPS) and the role of education in nurturing younger generations are
addressed.

1. Introduction
A concern for environmental conservation has recurred in diverse
forms, in different parts of the world, throughout history. The idea of
‘the environment’ as an explicit concept has changed over time as
detailed issues have developed (Griseri and Seppala, 2010). Recently,
environmentalism has changed to address new issues such as climate
change, overpopulation and genetic engineering. Climate change is one
of the main environmental issues widely discussed in international
dialogues and conferences. One of the key initiatives to reduce climate
change is through the reduction of energy usage. According to Ek and
Soderholm (2010), environmental policy-makers increasingly empha-
size individual consumers’ responsibility for the environmental side
effects of their actions, and many environmental requirements are
expressed in terms of household-related activities. These include, for
instance, recycling, purchase of green-labeled products and activities
that decrease household electricity use. Improving energy efficiency via
faster diffusion of energy-efficient appliances is considered a key option
for achieving energy efficiency and climate policy targets; likewise,
higher energy efficiency typically translates into lower fossil fuel use
and lower carbon emissions (Mills and Schleich, 2013). Particularly in
this context, energy-efficient appliances can and are playing a role in
reducing energy consumption in homes.
1.1. Background
Energy is an important element in nation building because it acts as
the foundation that supports the socio-economic development of a
country. Over the past few decades, there has been a rapid increase in
electricity consumption, with the strongest growth in the service and
residential sectors. The main cause of this rise is increased ownership
and usage of electrical appliances (Taylor et al., 2010; Gaspar and
Autunes, 2011). Global primary energy demand is expected to rise by
approximately one-third from now until 2035, with the majority of that
demand coming primarily from China, India, ASEAN countries and the
Middle East (International Energy Agency, 2014). It has been projected
that more than a $40 trillion investment in the energy supply over the
period from 2014 to 2035, together with $8 trillion to improve end-use
energy efficiency, will be required to keep up with booming electricity
demand (International Energy Agency, 2014). However, the reality is
that, in view of the current investment trend, there are indeed warning
signs of power supply inadequacy. Worldwide, households account for

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: yngoh@usm.my (Y.-N. Goh).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.05.027
Received 28 January 2016; Received in revised form 6 May 2017; Accepted 10 May 2017
0301-4215/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
C.-S. Tan et al.
Fig. 1. Electricity Consumption in Malaysia from 2004 to 2014.
Source: Malaysia Energy Information Hub, Energy Commission (2017).
approximately 31% of total energy consumption, with Saudi Arabia at
50%, the UK 31%, the USA 25% and Finland 16% (Saidur et al., 2007).
Faced with increasing populations, increasing per-capita electricity
consumption, rising fuel costs, and aging facilities, a number of
countries have embraced energy efficiency as a partial solution to
looming energy problems (Reynolds et al., 2012). Governments around
the globe are increasingly aware of the urgency and importance of wiser
and better use of energy resources. Energy efficiency, one of the key
focuses to mitigate climate change was the main agenda in Malaysia
National Energy Efficiency Master Plan (NEEMP) (2011−2020).
1.1.1. Overall trend in electricity consumption in Malaysia
Fig. 1 demonstrates the overall trend of electricity consumption in
Malaysia from year 2004 to 2014. Industrial sector accounted for the
highest electricity consumption (ktoe) follows by commercial sector,
residential sector, and agriculture sector and lastly is transport sector.
It is apparent that all major sectors are showing an increasing trend in
electricity consumption. For example, the residential sector showed an
increase growth rate of household electricity consumption from 2004
to 2014. Hence, residential consumers played an important role
contributing towards the high electricity consumption based on their
usage of household energy appliances. This can be explained in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 depicts an overview of Residential Energy Consumption in
Malaysia in year 2011. Referring to Fig. 2, residential sector consumed
a total of 7.8 Mtoe of electricity. This energy consumption was mainly
contributes by usage on others categories (31%); refrigerator (18%);
cooking gas (15%); cooking equipment (13%); air conditioner (10%);
Fig. 2. Residential Energy Consumption in Malaysia in 2011.
Source: Adopted from Chong et al. (2015)
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Energy Policy 107 (2017) 459–471
washing machine (9%) and lastly is the usage for illumination (4%). It
is apparent that these categories are the most popular electrical
appliances among the residential consumers in 2011. Hence, in view
of the rapid increase in the electricity consumption, promoting the
purchase intention on energy efficient appliances become crucial to
reduce the high electricity consumption and provide economic benefits
to consumers.
1.1.2. Malaysia energy-saving effort and purchase of energy-efficient
appliances
During the 1970s oil crisis, Malaysia touted renewable energy and
energy efficiency (EE) as Malaysia's fifth fuel; however, the discovery of
great amounts of oil and natural gas in the 1980s rapidly masked EE
issues (Choong, 2011). Some regulations on EE were drafted in the
1990s by the Electricity and Gas Supply Department (EGSD) and the
Ministry of Energy (now the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and
Water, i.e., KeTTHA) but were not implemented due to “legal issues”
(Choong, 2011).
Recommendations on energy efficiency, including labelling require-
ments, became a key focus; soon, the National Energy Efficiency
Master Plan was developed. However, many implementation aspects
of energy efficiency for both businesses and domestic consumers have
been overlooked as reported by Association of Water and Energy
Research Malaysia (AWER, 2012) in 2012. In 2006, the Energy
Commission with cooperation from the Standards and Industrial
Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM) established the energy label
for refrigerators (Energy Commission, 2013). Energy Efficient
Labelling Program for Household Appliances in Malaysia has been
enacted for freezers, air-conditioners, domestic fans and televisions.
Household appliances are labeled with an Energy Commission label
with 1-Star to 5-Stars; a 1-Star label indicates the least energy-efficient
appliance, whereas a 5-Star Label indicates the most energy-efficient
appliance.
Driven by strong demand from commercial and domestic sectors in
line with its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, the growth of
electricity demand in Malaysia as forecasted by the Economic Planning
Unit (EPU) showed an increase of 3.52% in 2012 compared with 3.48%
in 2011 (Tan et al., 2013). Statistics from Energy Commission showed
that Malaysian households consumed approximately 20.2% of total
electricity usage in 2011, an increase of nearly 2% from 18.3% in 2007.
The steady growth of electricity consumption in Malaysia has actually
raised the concern of the Malaysian government because increasing
energy consumption is directly linked to CO2 emission. In Malaysia,
energy efficiency drives at the national level first began in the Seventh
Malaysia Plan 1996–2000), which gave birth to the Malaysia Energy
Center (PTM). Next, in the Ninth Malaysia Plan 2006–2010) and Tenth
Malaysia Plan 2011–2015), energy efficiency is once again clearly being
addressed. The Malaysian government has noticed the importance of
reducing household electricity usage through the adoption of energy-
efficient appliances.
SAVE, or Sustainability Achieved via Energy Efficiency, is a
program spearheaded by the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology
and Water to improve energy efficiency in Malaysia. From July 2011 to
the end of 2012, 100,000 rebate vouchers for 5-Star-rated refrigerators
and 65,000 vouchers for 5-Star-rated air conditioners have been
allocated to household consumers across Malaysia. The effort is in line
with the utilization objective of Malaysian Energy Policy, which is to
promote the efficient utilization of energy and discourage wasteful and
non-productive patterns of energy consumption. This first of its type of
incentive in Malaysia may not be sufficient to decrease energy usage,
but it marked an important milestone in the Malaysian local context in
promoting the adoption of energy-efficient appliances.
In reality, many people do not replace their household appliances
with energy-efficient ones. As reported by the president of the
Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia (AWER), the use
of energy efficient products in Malaysia is still at unsatisfactory level
C.-S. Tan et al. Energy Policy 107 (2017) 459–471

because Malaysian consumers are more favorable to buy energy
inefficient products since they are cheaper (Mohd Ariff, 2017). On
the other hand, the implementation of Goods and Service Tax (GST)
would affect the price of energy efficient products, since many of the
energy efficient products are branded goods. Moreover, the price
premiums imposed on the energy efficient appliances have made it
less attractive to consumers compare to the energy inefficient products
which are lower in price. On the other hand, as argued by
Piarapakaran, president of AWER, consumers might be unaware that
their purchase on energy inefficient products would be consuming
more electricity throughout the products life span (Mohd Ariff, 2017).
Therefore, an investigation to examine factors influencing Malaysian
consumer preferences on energy efficient appliances is crucial at this
juncture.
In addition to that, factors affecting the adoption of energy-efficient
household appliances may not be clearly understood by policy makers
and by the producers and suppliers of such household appliances.
Another large step will occur when there is mass adoption of such
retrofits in homes. To achieve this step, it is of great importance for the
marketers and policy makers to understand the effect of some key
factors that influence the purchase intention for energy-efficient
appliances. Energy efficiency is recognized as an essential strategy in
energy saving and climate-change mitigation policies. Hence, a sub-
stantial number of studies have been done on energy conservation and
energy efficiency over the past few years in many countries, including
Malaysia, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Poland, Spain, Italy,
China, South Korea, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, the
Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Saint Lucia,
the USA, the UK, Denmark and many more. Among those studies, only
a handful focused particularly on determinants of purchase intention
for energy-efficient appliances.
Mills and Schleich (2013) have surveyed more than 20,000 house-
holds to ascertain the influence of labelling knowledge and household
characteristics on the adoption of Energy-Efficient Household
Appliances in Germany. Because the analysis of factors may suffer
from knowledge-based selection bias, it was suggested by Mills and
Szchleich (2013) that future research be conducted to account for the
effects of differences in environmental attitudes, social norms and
psychological factors on the purchase decision of energy-efficient
appliances. To close the contextual gap and literature gap, this study
attempts to incorporate the moral extension of the Theory of Planned
Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) to understand the intention of consu-
mers toward purchasing energy-efficient household appliances in the
context of Penang consumers.
behavioral intention, by adding additional constructs within the TPB
model (Chen and Tung, 2014; Kaiser and Scheuthle, 2003; Kaiser,
2006). For example, Chen and Tung (2014) extended the TPB research
model, incorporating environmental concern and perceived moral
obligation to predict consumers’ intention to visit green hotels. Wang
et al. (2015) improve the classic TPB model with additional constructs
like energy knowledge, information publicity, living habit and demo-
graphic variables to investigate energy saving behavioral intention in
China. In a similar vein, Wang et al. (2011) and Wang et al. (2017)
included residue effect in addition to the classic TPB variable (i.e.
attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control).
Moreover, the explanatory power of the TPB in pro-environmental
behavior intention is improved by adding moral norms (Kaiser, 2006;
Chan and Bishop, 2013; López-Mosquera et al., 2014). Ajzen (1991)
asserted that perceived moral obligation should consider moral issues
to increase the TPB's predictive power. In the pro-environmental
context, Kaiser (2006) noted that a model predicting consumers’
conservation behavioral intention may contain a moral dimension.
Hence, in this study, we added moral norms as the extension of classic
TPB model and this study also introduce some improvements to the
model with additional variables such as environmental concern and
environmental knowledge to understand consumers’ intention toward
purchasing energy-efficient household appliances (see Fig. 3).
1.2.1. Attitude
Ivancevich et al. (2010) defined attitude as a mental state of
readiness learned and organized through experience, exerting a specific
influence on a person's response to the people, objects, and situations
to which it is related. This is in line with Ajzen (1985), who mentioned
that one with positive attitudes toward an action is more likely to
perform that action. As one of the three conceptually independent
determinants of intention in TPB, attitude toward a behavior refers to
the degree of one's favorable or unfavorable evaluation of the behavior
in question (Ajzen, 1991; Ha and Janda, 2012; Klockner, 2013). Wang
et al. (2011) refers attitudes as “the degree of people awareness of
performing electricity-saving behavior, which largely depends on the
evaluation of preference to electricity savings and the information the
individual holds towards such a behavior (p. 3551).” Greaves et al.
(2013), in an echoing note, reiterated that attitude toward the behavior
represents one's overall evaluation of the behavior based upon a belief
regarding whether the behavior will result in desirable outcomes. For
example, a consumer may view an inexpensive air-conditioner as more
affordable, i.e., may have a positive attitude toward the inexpensive air-

1.2. Literature review and hypothesis development

The current study which applies Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

to predict purchase intention for energy efficient household appliances
is deemed appropriate since this behavioral intention is a specific pro-
environmental behavior (Chan, 1998). A review of literature found that
previous scholarly work on behavioral intention on pro-environmental
behavior (Chan, 1998); electricity savings behavior (Wang et al., 2011);
energy savings behavior (Wang et al., 2015); energy efficient appliances
(Wang et al., 2017) have applied Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to
support their model. Moreover, many recent international studies done
on green purchase or energy saving have employed TPB as the
backbone of their theoretical framework (Albayrak et al., 2013;
Klockner, 2013; Millock and Nauges, 2010). Numerous researchers
other than those identified above also have applied TPB as the
theoretical basis for studying whether consumers intend to perform
environmentally friendly behavior (e.g. Alam et al., 2014; Chan and
Bishop, 2013; Chen and Tung, 2014; Greaves el al, 2013; López-
Mosquera et al., 2014; Mi et al., 2011).
Several studies attempted to improve the explanatory power of Fig. 3. PLS Results of Path Coefficients and Hypothesis Testing, *p < 0.1; **p < 0.05;
TPB, despite the general usefulness of the theory in predicting ***p < 0.01.

461
C.-S. Tan et al.
conditioner. However, the consumer may decide on a more costly
energy-efficient air-conditioner while comparing different options. The
ultimate intention to purchase the particular product (although it is
more expensive) may be subject to beliefs about the positive outcome of
purchasing the product and one's degree of inclination to comply with
those beliefs (Ha and Janda, 2012).
Greaves et al. (2013), who conducted a study on a random sample
of 2000 employees in a target organization in the UK using the theory
of planned behavior, found that attitudes together with the other two
TPB components account for a substantial amount of variance in
employee intentions to engage in environmental behaviors, including
saving energy by switching off computers. Extant research also
indicates that consumer attitudes are among the most relevant
predictors of green purchasing decisions and various ecological beha-
vioral intentions (e.g., Ha and Janda, 2012; Greaves et al., 2013;
López-Mosquera et al., 2014; Olsen et al., 2010; Wang et al., 2015).
Taken together, we expect that attitude positively influences purchase
intentions for energy-efficient appliances and develop the following
hypothesis:
H1:. Attitude toward energy-efficient appliances is positively related
to purchase intentions for energy-efficient appliances.
1.2.2. Environmental concern
Environmental concern may be motivating from a policy standpoint
when it deals with energy saving because environmental concern seems
to be independent of the appeal and cost effectiveness of the energy-
saving behavior (Urban and Scasny, 2012). Hence, environmental
concern is able to reduce certain undesirable outcomes of improved
energy efficiency, for example the take-back effect, because it positions
consumers toward energy saving regardless of whether such energy-
saving effort pays back financially (Urban and Scasny, 2012). Over the
last forty years, marketers and academicians have made extensive
efforts to determine the factors influencing consumers’ environmen-
tally sensitive behaviors, with most of the studies done in the earlier
stage, i.e., focusing on demographic characteristics (Albayrak el al,
2013). However, this did not stop researchers from considering
environmental concern when dealing with pro-environmental studies;
many of them thought that people who are concerned about the
environment tend more to engage in pro-environmental behaviors.
For instance, Albayrak et al. (2013) noted that environmental concern
proved to be one of the most popular variables used to study
environmental behavior. The term “environmental concern” is often
used interchangeably with “environmental attitude”, which is defined
as one's beliefs, affect and intentions that are related to environmental
activities or behaviors (Chan et al., 2014).
Zhang et al. (2015) on the other hand measured environmental
concern as the respondent's self-perceived responsibility for energy
conservation. From a theoretical perspective, one can combine the
point from Chan et al. (2014) above and Bamberg (2003), who treats
environmental concern as a type of general attitude; hence, environ-
mental concern could be categorized as another manifestation of
attitude dimension in the theory of planned behavior. It is believed
that environmental concern can reduce the take-back effect associated
with pro-environmental behaviors (Urban and Scasny, 2012).
Therefore, many researchers studied and confirmed the positive
relationship between environmental concern and behavioral intention
(Albayrak et al., 2013; Chan et al., 2014; Chen and Tung; , 2014;
Hartmann and Apaolaza-Ibáñez, 2012). Generally, we expect that
environmental concern positively influences purchase intentions for
energy-efficient appliances. Thus, we have the following hypothesis:
H2:. Environmental concern is positively related to purchase
intentions for energy-efficient appliances.
1.2.3. Environmental knowledge
People usually tend to avoid uncertainties and situations in which
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Energy Policy 107 (2017) 459–471
knowledge is insufficient to guide behaviors; thus, people who have a
great deal of environmental knowledge are more eager to perform
ecological behavior (Chan et al., 2014). Kaiser et al. (1999) defined
environmental knowledge as an individual's factual knowledge about
the environment and specified environmental knowledge and aware-
ness as the prerequisite for the formation of environmental attitude.
Conversely, Fryxell and Lo (2003) defined environmental knowledge in
a similar but quite detailed note as general knowledge of facts,
concepts, and relationships between ecosystems and the environment.
Environmental knowledge is what people know about the environment
and about the main relationships affecting environmental aspects and
impacts (Fryxell and Lo, 2003). Individuals with environmental knowl-
edge understand the consequences of their actions toward the envir-
onment; this understanding forms part of the action-based knowledge
within their cognitive psychology (Frick et al., 2004). The nature of
human responsibility will encourage the attainment of ecological
knowledge that leads to behavioral outcomes (Kanchanapibul et al.,
2014).
Knowledge generally influences one's pro-environmental attitudes
and behaviors, and the lack of environmental knowledge can hinder the
implementation of environmental programs (Chan et al., 2014).
According to Kanchanapibul et al. (2014), although there is support
to associate ecological knowledge and behavior, there is also evidence
that shows a gap between ecological knowledge and environmental
performance. Few researchers have examined the role of knowledge on
environmental issues; however, knowledge has recently become an
important determinant of consumer behavior (Yusof et al., 2013).
Flamm (2006) found a relationship between environmental knowledge
and environmental attitude in a study that examined vehicle's owner-
ship. Frick et al. (2004) stressed the importance of environmental
knowledge on energy conserving behavior by conducting a survey on
5000 randomly selected Swiss adults. In a recent study, Kanchanapibul
et al. (2014) confirmed that ecological knowledge is a significant
determinant of a young consumer's intention to engage in green
purchasing. This is supported by Chan et al. (2014); environmental
knowledge will influence the intention to implement green practices.
People who are having greater level of information (i.e. energy) are
more likely to pay for renewable energy as confirmed by a study by
Zografakis et al. (2010). On the other hand, Wang et al. (2011) have
confirmed there is a positive effect of energy knowledge on electricity
saving behavior. Zsóka et al. (2013) also shared the similar viewpoints
in which environmental knowledge affect environmental behavior.
Taken together, we expect that environmental knowledge positively
influences purchase intentions for energy-efficient appliances and
develop the following hypothesis:
H3:. Environmental knowledge is positively related to purchase
intentions for energy-efficient appliances.
1.2.4. Subjective norm
Ajzen (1991) defined subjective norms as “the perceived social
pressure to perform or not to perform the behavior (p. 188)”. In other
words, subjective norms are the individual perception or “opinion
about what important others believe the individual should do (Finlay
et al., 1999, p. 2381).” This definition is aligned with the measurement
items used as adapted from Chen and Tung (2014). Subjective norm as
represented by normative belief are “located within, but not identical
to the broader construct of social norms while social norm refers to a
rather broader range of permissible, but not necessarily required
behavior” as highlighted by (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1972, p. 2).
Normative belief refers to a specific behavioral act the performance
of which is expected or desired under the given circumstances (Ajzen
and Fishbein, 1972, p. 2).
Many other researchers in the area of green behavioral studies
echoed the classical definition given by Ajzen (e.g., Ha and Janda,
2012; Klockner, 2013, Chen and Tung, 2014). Subjective norms also
C.-S. Tan et al.
refer to an individual's feelings of social pressure from other people or
groups (Ajzen, 1991; Chen and Tung, 2013; Klockner, 2013).
According to Kim et al. (2013), subjective norms signify the degree of
normative behavioral beliefs and the motivation to comply with these
beliefs. Klockner (2013) defined subjective norm more mathematically
as perceived pressure from relevant others regarding which behavioral
options should be performed times the willingness to comply with that
expectation. Because it considers social pressure from significant
others, a subjective norm will either encourage or inhibit how an
individual act (López-Mosquera et al., 2014).
In a recent study on the intention to adopt an alternative fuel
vehicle in Germany, Petschnig et al. (2014) stressed that subjective
norm, being a social norm component, is based on the psychological
need to comply with the likings perceived of one's social referents. In a
study by Hori et al. (2013) in five major Asian cities, it was found that
social interaction was strongly linked to energy-saving behaviors.
Similarly, subjective norm also proved to affects energy savings
behavioral intention as highlighted by Wang et al. (2015). A majority
of the studies applying the theory of planned behavior and the theory of
reasoned action find subjective norms a significant determinant of
green behavior (e.g., Albayrak et al., 2013; Chen and Tung, 2014; Kim
et al., 2013). Subjective norm has been proved to affect directly
consumers’ purchase intention for energy-efficient appliances in
Korea (Ha and Janda, 2012). Similarly, we expect that subjective norm
will positively influence purchase intentions for energy-efficient appli-
ances and develop the following hypothesis:
H4:. Subjective norm is positively related to purchase intentions for
energy-efficient appliances.
1.2.5. Perceived behavioral control
Perceived behavioral control (PBC) is defined as an individual's
perceived ease or difficulty in performing a specific behavior; the
concept is very similar to Bandura's (1982) concept of perceived self-
efficacy (Ajzen, 1991). Klockner (2013) stated that PBC measures an
individual's degree of having the opportunity and ability to perform a
behavior. Albayrak et al. (2013), who studied green purchasing
behavior, described perceived behavioral control (PBC) specifically as
whether an individual can easily consume a certain product or whether
the consumption would be difficult. Perceived behavioral control is
strongly related to one's beliefs regarding the influence of both
situational and internal factors to facilitate performing the behavior;
the more control a person has over the energy-saving product under
consideration; the more likely it is for that person to use it (Alam et al.,
2014).
As one of the most popular theories being used in behavioral study,
the theory of planned behavior (and perceived behavioral control)
continues to be widely referred to in recent studies in various fields.
Specifically, in the field of green behavior (including purchasing),
perceived behavioral control (PBC) has been studied and confirmed
as a significant determinant of behavioral intention (e.g. López-
Mosquera et al., 2014; Chen and Tung, 2014; Albayrak et al., 2013).
Alam et al. (2014) conducted a survey using structured questionnaires
on 200 Malaysian residents and confirmed that perceived behavioral
control has a significant effect on small-scale households’ renewable
energy usage intention. Wang et al. (2015) also confirmed that
perceived behavioral control significantly influence behavioral inten-
tion among residents in Beijing, China in the context of energy savings
behavior. Likewise, we expect that perceived behavioral control will
positively influence purchase intentions for energy-efficient appliances
and develop the following hypothesis:
H5:. Perceived behavioral control is positively related to purchase
intentions for energy-efficient appliances.
1.2.6. Moral norm
Moral Norm refers to the perceived moral obligation or responsi-
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Energy Policy 107 (2017) 459–471
bility to perform or not to perform certain behavior (Ajzen, 1991;
Kaiser, 2006). According to Manstead (2000), moral norms represent
one's belief that acting in a certain way is essentially right or wrong.
Cheng and Tung (2014) have described moral norms as the perceived
responsibilities to act morally when dealing with ethical situations. In
line with that statement, Olsen et al. (2010) mentioned that the term
“moral norm” has often been operationalized as “perceived moral
obligation”. Studies show that the concepts of moral norms, moral
obligations and personal norms have often been used interchangeably
(Arvola et al., 2008). In a study in Germany using a sample of 1105
respondents, Petschnig et al. (2014) investigated the influence of
personal norm on the intention to purchase an alternative fuel vehicle.
Petschnig et al. (2014) reiterated that personal norms and moral
obligations are influenced by beliefs about environmental conditions
and an action in line with those beliefs that one is considering.
López-Mosquera et al. (2014) suggested that the inclusion of a
moral obligation component could lead to more understanding of
environmental intentions and behaviors. Note that researchers have
been studying the TPB extension of moral norms on various environ-
mental behaviors such as visiting a green hotel (Chen and Tung, 2014),
recycling household waste (Chan and Bishop, 2013), intention to pay
for urban park conservation (López-Mosquera el a, 2014), and the
intention to use energy-efficient light bulbs (Harland et al., 1999).
Although there was evidence signifying that moral norms lack dis-
criminant validity, Chan and Bishop (2013) conducted a study to retest
whether moral norms could be established for intention to recycle and
found that it supported the extension of the theory of planned behavior
(TPB).
Petschnig et al. (2014) indicated that personal norm or moral norm
was found to influence positively the purchases of various green
products such as environmentally friendly vehicles, hydrogen fuel,
environmentally grown food, low-involvement green products and high
involvement eco-innovations. The inclusion of a moral obligation or
moral norm component has improved the explanation power of each of
their research frameworks on environmental behaviors (López-
Mosquera et al., 2014; Chen and Tung, 2014; Chan and Bishop,
2013). Recent study has also proved moral norm to have a direct effect
on the intention to purchase an alternative fuel vehicle (Petschnig et al.,
2014). Taken together, we expect that moral norm positively influences
purchase intentions for energy-efficient appliances. Thus, we have the
following hypothesis:
H6:. Moral norm is positively related to purchase intentions for
energy-efficient appliances.
2. Method
2.1. Research design
The unit of analysis in this research is individual consumer aged 18
years and above living in the northern state of Malaysia. For this study,
300 self-administered questionnaires were issued via direct distribu-
tion to relatives and friends, direct distribution to working adults at
their workplace and direct distribution to students at a public
university. To ensure respondents understand the context of the study,
the definition of energy-efficient appliances was presented at the very
beginning of the questionnaire. The questionnaire of this study was
designed to contain seven main parts. Part I aimed at collecting
correspondents’ demographic information. Part II measured the atti-
tudinal factors that affect respondents’ attitude towards energy-effi-
cient household appliances. Part III and Part IV measured the
subjective norms and perceived behavioral control of the respondents,
respectively. Part V was designed to measure the moral norms, which is
the extension of the TPB in this study. Part VI measured respondents’
perceptions of affordability. The purchase intention for energy-efficient
household appliances is measured in part VII.
C.-S. Tan et al. Energy Policy 107 (2017) 459–471

Many past literatures have adopted the seven points Likert scale as Table 2
the measurement method used in the questionnaires (Petschnig et al., PLS Result of main loadings and cross-loadings.
2014; Kim et al., 2013). Hence, seven points Likert scale was also
ATT EC EK MN PBC SN PI
adopted to measure the items presented in the questionnaire. This
seven-Point Likert-scale was used throughout part II to part VII. ATT1 0.865 0.417 0.137 0.256 0.471 0.388 0.372
Respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement for each ATT2 0.754 0.426 0.081 0.282 0.438 0.381 0.360
ATT3 0.836 0.406 0.243 0.335 0.424 0.320 0.376
of the items by indicating numbers ranging from (1) representing
ATT4 0.891 0.431 0.279 0.362 0.596 0.460 0.532
“strongly disagree” to 7 representing “strongly agree”. The measure- EC1 0.495 0.855 0.341 0.528 0.420 0.302 0.393
ment scale items used in the study were borrowed from the past studies EC2 0.454 0.902 0.432 0.505 0.310 0.148 0.355
which have been validated (see Table 3). EC3 0.417 0.852 0.457 0.521 0.355 0.218 0.337
The study recorded a 70.0% response rate, with 210 completed EC4 0.437 0.903 0.384 0.516 0.344 0.208 0.378
EC5 0.347 0.843 0.351 0.542 0.317 0.186 0.265
questionnaires successfully collected out of the 300 questionnaires
EK1 0.199 0.472 0.815 0.378 0.231 0.053 0.244
distributed. The respondents’ demographic information showed that a EK2 0.192 0.341 0.693 0.306 0.041 0.020 0.162
relatively high number of respondents had previous experience pur- EK3 0.151 0.267 0.512 0.187 0.135 0.026 0.088
chasing energy-efficient household appliances (75.7%). Female respon- EK4 0.170 0.237 0.681 0.257 0.076 0.066 0.109
EK6 0.135 0.325 0.807 0.276 0.103 0.010 0.147
dents outnumbered the male respondents, with 59.5% female com-
EK7 0.127 0.174 0.696 0.190 0.175 0.127 0.144
pared with 40.5% male. In terms of age group, the majority was in the EK8 0.158 0.348 0.789 0.320 0.117 0.029 0.141
range 26–40 years of age; ages 26–30 constituted 37.1% and age 31– EK9 0.204 0.347 0.757 0.378 0.067 0.064 0.147
40 of 34.3% of the respondents. In term of ethnicity, the majority were MN1 0.400 0.574 0.357 0.933 0.461 0.338 0.403
Chinese (62.4%) followed by Malay (21.4%), Indian (13.3%) and others MN2 0.357 0.577 0.345 0.928 0.416 0.282 0.436
MN3 0.245 0.460 0.411 0.850 0.365 0.246 0.359
(2.9%). Refer to Table 1 for profile of respondents.
PBC1 0.417 0.242 0.039 0.229 0.742 0.453 0.394
PBC2 0.563 0.303 0.094 0.288 0.755 0.458 0.517
PBC3 0.493 0.415 0.127 0.472 0.799 0.409 0.493
PBC4 0.389 0.284 0.187 0.348 0.724 0.367 0.492
PBC5 0.440 0.327 0.133 0.405 0.768 0.353 0.440
Table 1 PBC6 0.308 0.226 0.178 0.301 0.697 0.267 0.459
Profile of respondents. SN1 0.461 0.207 0.027 0.281 0.492 0.928 0.390
SN2 0.392 0.228 0.065 0.326 0.469 0.896 0.357
Variable Frequency % SN3 0.422 0.240 0.093 0.269 0.443 0.903 0.386
PI1 0.413 0.313 0.223 0.393 0.579 0.403 0.922
Ever purchased energy-efficient household appliances
PI2 0.511 0.430 0.176 0.424 0.575 0.363 0.918
Yes 159 75.7
No 51 24.3
Note: Bold values are loadings for items that are above 0.50; EK5 was deleted due to
loading below 0.50.
Gender
Attitude toward energy-efficient household appliances (ATT), environmental concern
Male 85 40.5
Female 125 59.5 (EC), environmental knowledge (EK), moral norm (MN), perceived behavioral control
(PBC), subjective norm (SN) and purchase intention for energy-efficient household
Age appliances (PI).
Below 20 3 1.4
21 – 25 28 13.3 3. Results
26 – 30 78 37.1
31 – 40 72 34.3
41 – 50 20 9.5
3.1. Construct validity
51 – 60 9 4.3
Above 61 0 0.0 Construct validity dictates the confidence level of how well the item
measurements taken from a sample represent the actual true score in
Ethnicity
the population (Hair et al., 2014). In this study, the respective outer
Malay 45 21.4
Chinese 131 62.4 loadings and cross-loadings were tested for construct validity.
Indian 28 13.3 According to Hair et al. (2014), outer loading above 0.50 is significant
Others 6 2.9 and the particular item should remain; items with outer loadings below
0.50 should be deleted. As presented in Table 2, bold values were item
Nationality
Malaysian 210 100.0
loadings that are above 0.50. All items were retained except EK5, which
Others 0 0.0 has a loading value less than 0.50. This indicates that all measurement
items except EK5 have significant construct validity.
Education
SPM or lower level 28 13.3
Diploma 21 10.0 3.2. Convergent validity
Bachelor degree 128 61.0
Post graduate or higher level 33 15.7
Convergent validity is the degree to which multiple items measuring
Monthly income the same construct are in agreement. Main loadings, composite
Not stated 4 1.9 reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE) are used by
Below RM 2000 23 11.0 researchers to assess convergent validity (Hair et al., 2014). The results
RM 2001 – RM 5000 135 64.3 as presented in Table 3 shows that loadings for all items shown in the
RM 5001 – RM 8000 35 16.7
RM 80001 and above 13 6.2
table exceeded the recommended value of at least 0.50 (Hair et al.,
2014). As a measure of internal consistency, the constructs’ indicators
Marital status ranged from 0.884 to 0.949, which exceeded the recommended value of
Single 124 59.0 0.70 by Hair et al. (2014). Hair et al. (2014) recommended that the
Married 85 40.5
average variance extracted (AVE) value should be greater than 0.50 as a
Divorced 1 0.5
Widow 0 0.0 measure of the degree to which a latent construct explains the variance
of its indicators to justify using a construct. The AVE in this study

464
 C.-S. Tan et al.

Table 3
PLS result of convergent validity measures.

Latent variable Measurement item Loading CRa AVEb Sources

Attitude toward Energy-efficient Household ATT1: It is important to me whether the household appliance is energy-efficient or not. 0.865 0.904 0.702 Adapted from Ha and Janda
Appliances ATT2: Environmental protection is important to me when making purchases. 0.754 (2012)
ATT3: If I can choose between energy-efficient household appliances and conventional products, I prefer energy- 0.836
efficient ones.
ATT4: I have a favorable attitude toward purchasing energy-efficient appliances. 0.891

Environmental Concern EC1: I am concerned about waste generation 0.855 0.940 0.760 Adapted from Urban and Scasny
EC2: I am concerned about air pollution. 0.902 (2012)
EC3: I am concerned about climate change. 0.852
EC4: I am concerned about water pollution. 0.903
EC5: I am concerned about natural resources depletion. 0.843

Environmental Knowledge EK1: Melting of the polar ice caps may result in a flooding of shores and islands. 0.692 0.897 0.525 Adapted from Kaiser et al. (1999)
EK2: Fossil fuels (e.g. gas, oil) produce carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere when burned. 0.767
EK3: A living beings (micro-organisms, plants, animals, and humans) are interdependent with one another. 0.812
EK4: Poisonous metals are introduced into the food chain, for instance, via ground water. 0.835
EK6: A change in climate caused by increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere is called the greenhouse effect. 0.822
EK7: Poisonous metals (such as mercury) remain in the human body. 0.856
EK8: The world climate will probably massively change if CO2 continues to be emitted into the atmosphere in as 0.785
huge amounts as it is now.
EK9: A reduced number of species may interrupt the food chain, affecting some subsequent species in the food 0.715

465
chain.

Subjective Norm SN1: Most people who are important to me think I should buy energy-efficient ones when it comes to the choice of 0.928 0.935 0.827 Adapted from Chen and Tung
household appliances. (2014)
SN2: Most people who are important to me would want me to purchase energy-efficient appliances. 0.896
SN3: People whose opinions I value would prefer that I purchase energy-efficient appliances. 0.903

Perceived Behavioral Control PBC1: I am confident that I would use energy-efficient household appliances even if it is slightly more expensive. 0.742 0.884 0.560 Adapted from Alam et al. (2014)
PBC2: I am confident that I would use energy-efficient household appliances even if another person advises me to 0.755
use non-energy-efficient appliances.
PBC3: I am sure that I would be able to make a difference by using energy-efficient household appliances. 0.799
PBC4: Using energy-efficient household appliances is entirely within my control. 0.724
PBC5: I am confident that I would use energy-efficient household appliances in future. 0.768
PBC6: I have the resources, knowledge and ability to use energy-efficient household appliances. 0.697

Moral Norm MN1: It is morally responsible to (other people and/or) the environment for me to conserve the natural resources. 0.933 0.931 0.817 Adapted from Kaiser (2006)
MN2: It is my moral obligation to (other people and/or) the environment for me to save natural resources because 0.928
they are limited.
MN3: It is my moral obligation to (other people and/or) the environment for me to reduce electricity usage. 0.850

Purchase Intention PI1: The probability that I will buy energy-efficient appliances is very high. 0.922 0.917 0.847 Adapted from Ha and Janda
PI2: I will buy an energy-efficient product in a more effective way. 0.918 (2012)

Note:
a
Composite Reliability (CR) =(square of the summation of the factor loadings)/{square of the summation of the factor loadings} +(square of the summation of the error variances)}.
b
Average Variance Extracted (AVE) =(summation of the square of the factor loadings)/{(summation of the square of the factor loadings) +(summation of the error variances)}.
Energy Policy 107 (2017) 459–471
C.-S. Tan et al.
Table 4
PLS result of discriminant validity measures.
Latent Variable ATT
Attitude toward Energy-efficient Appliances (ATT) 0.838
Environmental Concern (EC) 0.500
Environmental Knowledge (EK) 0.232
Moral Norm (MN) 0.373
Purchase Intention (PI) 0.501
Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) 0.586
Subjective Norm (SN) 0.468
Note: Bold values represent the square root of average variance extracted (AVE), whereas other entries represent the squared correlations using the Fornell-Larcker criterion (Fornell
and Larcker, 1981).
ranges from 0.525 to 0.861. This indicates that the construct explains
more than half of the variance of its indicators (Hair et al., 2014).
Hence, adequate convergent validity is demonstrated by the overall
measurement model of the study.
3.3. Discriminant validity
Discriminant validity is the degree to which a construct is dis-
tinctive from other constructs, i.e., the degree to which it represents
only a single construct and the degree to which it correlates with other
constructs (Hair et al., 2014). The discriminant validity is used to
examine the correlations between the measures of potentially over-
lapping constructs. Referring to the Fornell-Larcker criterion, item
loadings should be higher on their own constructs in the model and the
square root value of average variance extracted (AVE) shared between
each construct and its measures shall be greater than the variance
shared among the construct and the other constructs (Fornell and
Larcker, 1981; Hair et al., 2014). As presented in Table 4, the results
show that the squared correlations for each construct have values less
than the square root of the average variance extracted (AVE) by the
indicators. Hence, it is concluded that the overall measurement model
of the study demonstrated adequate discriminant validity, which
implies that each construct is distinctive from the others.
3.4. Reliability test
Due to several limitations inherent in Cronbach's alpha as a
measurement of internal reliability, composite reliability is preferred
as the method of measurement (Hair et al., 2014). Table 5 shows the
result of reliability testing with composite reliability values ranging
from 0.884 to 0.949, all greater than the cut-off value of 0.7 suggested
by Hair et al. (2014). The same table also presents the Cronbach's alpha
value as an alternative means to measure the internal consistency of
the measurement items. The results show that the Cronbach's alpha
values fall in the range of 0.819–0.921, all of which are greater than the
value of 0.6 recommended by Nunnally and Berstein (1994). Therefore,
it is concluded that the measurements exhibit adequate internal
consistency reliability.
3.5. Hypothesis analysis
A bootstrapping function was used to perform testing of hypoth-
eses. In this case, the minimum number of 5000 bootstrap samples
were selected, and critical values for one-tailed t-tests of 1.645
(significance level =5%) and 2.33 (significance level =1%) were applied
(Hair et al., 2014). The bootstrapping procedure indicates that the
coefficient values and t-values imply that hypotheses H1, H5 and H6
are statistically significant. The full results in Table 6 and Fig. 3 show
that attitude toward energy-efficient household appliances (β=0.153, p
< 0.01), perceived behavioral control (β=0.356, p < 0.01), and moral
norm (β=0.13, p < 0.05) were significantly positive influences of
consumers’ purchase intentions for energy-efficient household appli-
Energy Policy 107 (2017) 459–471
EC EK MN PI PBC SN
0.872
0.450 0.725
0.597 0.407 0.904
0.403 0.217 0.444 0.920
0.404 0.172 0.459 0.627 0.748
0.247 0.067 0.320 0.416 0.514 0.909
ances. However, the relatively high environmental concern and envir-
onmental knowledge among the respondents did not convert into a
significantly positive effect on the purchase intention for energy-
efficient household appliances. The result also indicated a non-sig-
nificant relationship between subjective norm and purchase intention
(β=−0.001, p > 0.05). Thus, hypotheses H2, H3 and H4 in this study
were not supported. On the other hand, the R2 of 0.496 indicates that
49.6% of the variance in purchase intention for energy efficient
household appliances can be explained by the six predictors.
However, not all six predictors were significant.
4. Discussion
Consumers’ attitude toward energy-efficient household appliances
was found to have a positive relationship with consumers’ purchase
intention toward energy-efficient household appliances. Hence, the
result suggests that consumers who have favorable attitudes toward
energy-efficient household appliances would generally intend to pur-
chase such appliances. This finding was consistent with previous
studies by Ha and Janda (2012), Greaves et al. (2013) and López-
Mosquera et al. (2014). The occurrence of a positive relationship
between attitude toward energy-efficient household appliances and
purchase intention for energy-efficient household appliances has been
long acknowledged by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975), who found in their
study that attitude, was highly correlated with consumers’ purchase
intention, which is a reasonable predictor of consumers’ actual
purchasing behavior. The consumers’ ultimate intention to purchase
the energy-efficient household appliances may be subject to beliefs
about the positive outcome of purchasing the product and one's degree
of inclination to comply with those beliefs (Ha and Janda, 2012). From
the analysis of respondent profile, 75.7% of the total respondents
(n=210) have the past experience of purchasing energy efficient
household appliances. This indicates that Penang consumers basically
demonstrating favorable attitudes towards purchasing energy efficient
household appliances. Hence, in a continuous effort to promote and
encourage future purchase of energy efficient household appliances,
policy makers may consider introducing what is known as “bonus-
malus scheme’ (Galarraga et al., 2016). This scheme basically is about
imposing a tax on inefficient appliances and giving rebate for efficient
appliances (Galarraga et al., 2016). If the inefficient appliances are
getting more expensive due to the imposed fees, consumers who are
having a favorable attitude towards inefficient appliances due to its
lower cost might need to swift their purchasing patterns to efficient
appliances which are given out rebate. As highlighted by Piarapakaran
(2017), Malaysian consumers were more likely to purchase energy
inefficient products since it is much cheaper (cited in Mohd Ariff,
2017). Nonetheless, policy makers are advised to conduct a feasibility
study on this scheme to ensure that it was aligned with the National
Energy Efficiency Master Plan (NEEMP).
In this study, environmental concern was found not to have a
significantly positive relationship with purchase intention for energy-
efficient household appliances. The result is not consistent with the
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C.-S. Tan et al. Energy Policy 107 (2017) 459–471

Table 5
PLS Result of Reliability Test.

Latent Variable Measurement Item Loading Cronbach's alpha CR Number of itemsa

ATT ATT1 0.865 0.859 0.904 4(4)

ATT2 0.754
ATT3 0.836
ATT4 0.891
EC EC1 0.855 0.921 0.940 5(5)
EC2 0.902
EC3 0.852
EC4 0.903
EC5 0.843
EK1 0.692 0.870 0.897 8(9)
EK2 0.767
EK EK3 0.812
EK4 0.835
EK6 0.822
EK7 0.856
EK8 0.785
EK9 0.715
SN SN1 0.928 0.895 0.935 3(3)
SN2 0.896
SN3 0.903
PBC PBC1 0.742 0.842 0.884 6(6)
PBC2 0.755
PBC3 0.799
PBC4 0.724
MN PBC5 0.768
PBC6 0.697
MN1 0.933 0.888 0.930 3(3)
MN2 0.928
MN3 0.850
PI PI1 0.922 0.819 0.917 2(2)
PI2 0.918

Note:
a
Final item numbers (initial numbers).

studies by Albayrak et al. (2013) and Urban and Scasny (2012).
However, the result in this current study is in line with Ramayah
et al. (2010), who found that consumers’ concern about environmental
consequences is not a significant predictor of purchase intention for
green products in Malaysia. It is, therefore, safe to say that consumers
in Malaysia may be concerned about various environmental problems
such as worsening air pollution and climate change, but this may not
result in a higher purchase intention for energy-efficient household
appliances. As explained by Ramayah et al. (2010), although
Malaysians may be ethically aware of and concerned with environ-
mental consequences, they might not have a sense of obligation to
demonstrate green purchase intention.
Contrary to Chan et al. (2014), this study finds no significant
positive relationship between environmental knowledge and purchase
intention for energy-efficient household appliances. The finding of non-
significant association between environmental knowledge and green
behavioral intention was actually in line with Kempton et al. (1995)
and Chan and Lau (2000). As argued by Kempton et al. (1995), the
existence of environmental knowledge per se does is not necessarily a
precondition for the occurrence of environmental behavior. The
consumers in the study proved to have substantial factual knowledge
about the environment, for example, that melting of ice caps at the
poles may lead to flooding of some lower areas. However, this knowl-
edge does not necessarily convert to higher purchase intention for
energy-efficient household appliances, although a majority of the
consumers previously have purchased such products. As noted by
Frick et al. (2004), the failure to associate environmental knowledge to
ecological behavior in the study was mostly due to not considering the
influence of different types of knowledge comprehensively in conjunc-
tion with the behavior. As this study only uses system knowledge (e.g.,
CO2 emissions cause a greenhouse effect) as a gauge of overall
environmental knowledge, this approach may be insufficient to relate
to conservation behavioral intention. Before a person performs an
action, it is necessary for that person to have system knowledge, i.e.,
one must possess knowledge about the natural states and processes
within ecosystems and understand how to remedy the environmental

Table 6
PLS results of path coefficients and hypothesis testing for direct effects.

Hypothesis Relationship Coefficient SE t Value p Value Supported

H1 ATT- > PI 0.153 0.064 2.391*** 0.008 Yes

H2 EC - > PI 0.074 0.073 1.017 0.155 No
H3 EK - > PI 0.027 0.059 0.455 0.325 No
H4 SN - > PI −0.001 0.073 0.008 0.497 No
H5 PBC - > PI 0.356 0.086 4.136*** 0.000 Yes
H6 MN - > PI 0.130 0.076 1.711** 0.044 Yes

Note:
**
p < 0.05.
***
p < 0.01.

467
C.-S. Tan et al.
problems (action-related knowledge). The person also must have
knowledge about the benefit (effectiveness knowledge) of pro-environ-
mental behavior or action (Frick et al., 2004).
This study did not find a significantly positive relationship between
subjective norm and purchase intention for energy-efficient household
appliances, a relationship that López-Mosquera et al. (2014) also could
not confirm. The lack of such a relationship implies that Penang
consumers would not be easily influenced by the opinions of people
close to them about decisions to purchase energy-efficient household
appliances. In fact, too many comments from others may even cause
lower purchase intention among Penang consumers, as shown by the
beta value of −0.001, although it is of very low significance. It has been
argued by Arvola et al. (2008) that subjective or social norms may not
be fit for use with the theory of planned behavior because they are
generally group-based and many not reflect an individual's own norms
with regard to the particular behavior. The finding is in contradiction
with Ha and Janda (2012), who found a positively significant relation-
ship between subjective norm and consumers’ purchase intention for
energy-efficient household appliances in Korea. It is most likely that the
cultural differences between Korea and Malaysia resulted in such a
discrepancy. Olsen et al. (2010) explained that when a moral factor was
added to the theory of planned behavior model, non-significant results
were detected for the effect of subjective norm in Norway and Holland,
indicating cultural differences in social pressure toward the behavior.
As indicated by López-Mosquera et al. (2014), it is also possible that
social norms might indirectly affect the formation of consumers’
attitudes in the case of considering the opinions of significant others
when one's own actions are being evaluated – for example, being
willing or not willing to pay for the energy-efficient household
appliances.
Since the birth of the theory of planned behavior, many researchers
have confirmed perceived behavioral control as a significant determi-
nant of pro-environmental behavioral intentions (Chen and Tung,
2014; Albayrak et al., 2013; Alam et al., 2014), with a small number
of others who do not find such a significant effect (e.g., López-
Mosquera et al., 2014; Greaves et al., 2013). This study confirmed
the significance of perceived behavioral control in the TPB model to
predict consumers’ intention to purchase energy-efficient household
appliances. This confirmation signifies the importance of non-motiva-
tional factors in consumers’ purchase intention (Alam et al., 2014).
This result implies that when consumers have more control over the
ability and resources to purchase an energy-efficient product under
consideration, they are more likely to do so.
The extension of moral norms in the TPB model in this study
exerted significantly positive influence on consumers’ purchase inten-
tion for energy-efficient household appliances. The inclusion of moral
norms increased the total explained variance in purchase intentions,
which suggests that none of the constructs in the theory of planned
behavior captures the effect of moral considerations on pro-environ-
mental behavioral intentions (Harland et al., 1999). When an increas-
ing number of consumers in Penang feel morally obligated to conserve
the environment and natural resources, this change will convert to a
higher adoption rate of energy-efficient household appliances. This
result is in line with some other green behavioral studies such as Chen
and Tung (2014), López-Mosquera et al. (2014), Petschnig et al.
(2014), and Chan and Bishop (2013), which provide adequate support
that such moral-related concepts contribute substantially to the knowl-
edge of behavioral intentions and behaviors in an environmental
context (López-Mosquera et al., 2014). Most of these studies concluded
that personal moral norms are a fundamental element and predisposi-
tion when consumers are making pro-environmental decisions. Ajzen
(1991) himself has acknowledged that, other than perceived social
pressures and other variables in the TPB model, it may be necessary to
consider the inclusion of moral norms in predicting one's behavioral
intention. However, the result of such a prediction will be behavioral-
specific, which in this case confirms moral norm as an additional
468
Energy Policy 107 (2017) 459–471
predictor of purchase intention for energy-efficient appliances.
5. Policy implications
The findings of this study generate a number of policy implications
in raising the awareness on energy efficiency and to promote the take
up of energy-efficient household appliances in Malaysia.
First, consumers who are having favorable attitudes towards
energy-efficient household appliances constitute an important target
group for the marketers. Marketers for major brands of household
appliances should collaborate frequently with the government agencies
in planning their promotional activities to gain favorable image. For
example, major brands of household appliances such as Samsung,
Haier, Panasonic, Daikin, and Sharp and so on have participated in the
SAVE program launched by the Economic Transformation Program
(ETP) of the Malaysian Government in 2011. This promotional activity
involving major brands provides a platform for consumers who are
looking for energy efficient appliances that offer cash rebate such as for
the purchase of energy-efficient refrigerators and air-conditioners. This
initiative has indirectly help to create a favorable image on the
participating household brand in addition to the additional savings
offered to consumers. On the other hand, those participating brands
can use the factual and comparative approach to feature their energy-
efficient appliances together with the non-energy-efficient ones and
clearly state the differences in energy consumption and monetary
savings over a year and over the expected working life, in which they
can also relate to the consequences of not switching to their products
by clearly stating the amount of expected ‘monetary loss’ and environ-
mental consequences in terms of CO2 emissions.
For government agencies such as Ministry of Energy, Green
Technology and Water (keTTHA), Energy Commision and GreenTech
Malaysia could create better awareness of Energy Star Labelling and
the benefits of energy-efficient household appliances to improve the
diffusion and adoption rate of energy-efficient household appliances.
Other than through mass media, the agencies above could also hold
roadshows together with the participations of major household appli-
ances producers in Malaysia such as Panasonic, Sony, and Samsung
and so on to achieve such outcome. Besides, enhancing Minimum
Energy Performance Standard (MEPS) and labelling of appliances also
required special attention under the Electricity (Amendment)
Regulations 2013 as announced by the Minister of Energy, Green
Technology and Water Malaysia (Energy Commission, 2016). MEPS
specify “the minimum level of energy performance that appliances,
lighting and electrical equipment (products) must meet or exceed
before they can be offered for sale or used for commercial purposes”
(Energy Commission, 2016). This labelling includes 5 Domestic
Electrical Products (i.e. Air Conditioner, Refrigerator, Television,
Domestic Fan and Lamps) (Energy Commission, 2016). This MEPS
and energy labelling help to improve the energy efficiency of appliances
enabling consumers to choose products which uses less energy. Hence,
with the help of the labelling on energy efficient appliances, Malaysian
consumers are better informed and this will increase the likelihood of
their purchase.
Since system knowledge alone could not lead to the purchase
intention, both marketers and policy makers could make use of
available channels such as advertisements in the mass media, social
media, education system and so on to disseminate knowledge on
energy savings and educate the school children and the general public
about action-related knowledge and effectiveness knowledge of con-
suming energy-efficient household appliances. One of the ways may be
incorporating the knowledge of environmental science in terms of how
human activities connected to the nature, how individual can help to
save the earth and how to save energy and the other associated benefits
of doing so through teaching in the elementary science subjects in the
education system. A more brief and impactful broadcast of the
comparative facts and figures plus the knowhow specifically targeting
C.-S. Tan et al.
on persuading consumers to purchase energy-efficient appliances could
be done simultaneously to strengthen the favorable attitude towards
energy-efficient household appliances among the general public.
Interventions and effort to increase perceived behavioral control
and create a feeling of self-efficacy is an aspect that is as significant as
improving the consumers’ attitude. In this sense, the promotional
advertisement done by the both the marketers and the policy makers
may propagandize with logical arguments targeting on strengthening
consumers’ confidence level that they actually have the ability and have
the full control over making decision to purchase energy-efficient
household appliances and that their decision and actual purchasing
behavior will lead to significant impact on electricity bill reduction,
emission reduction, environment improvement towards greener earth
and better living condition.
On the other hand, extending the Enhanced Time-of-Use Tariff
(EToU) to residential consumers is another policy implication from this
study. In 2016, Energy Commission of Malaysia introduces a new type
of tariff category which is, Enhanced Time-of-Use Tariff (EToU) for
consumers. This EToU is one type of self-regulating tool for consumers
to monitor their electricity usage in addition to regulate their electric
consumption efficiently. It encourages consumers to use electricity
more efficiently by reducing their electricity consumption during peak
hours and having more utilization during off peak hours. This is a good
initiative which should be extended to residential consumers.
Consumers who perceived that they are more in control towards
making a difference in the usage of electricity consumption have the
tendency to purchase energy efficient appliances as identified from this
study. It is strongly believed that if residential consumers have the
opportunity and ability to monitor their electricity consumption with
up to date usage record, they will most likely able to reduce their
electricity consumption such as by purchasing energy efficient appli-
ances if the current energy inefficient products contribute to high
electricity consumption. However, based on the information obtained
from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) corporate website, the largest
electricity utility in Malaysia, this tariff scheme is only available for
commercial and industrial consumers as of February 2017. Even
though the commercial and industrial consumers contribute a large
amount of revenue to the electric utility company, the contribution
from residential consumers should not be taken lightly. Moreover, the
extension of this tariff to residential consumers also part of the
initiative in engaging end users on energy efficient consumption. As
highlighted under the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016–2020), sustainable
usage of energy to support growth (Economic Planning Unit, Prime
Minister’s Department, 2017) through strengthening stakeholder (such
as residential consumers) coordination and collaboration in the energy
sector is one of the key areas of focus. In addition, the extension of this
EToU among residential consumers also will lead to reduced energy
consumption (e.g. such as by using energy efficient appliances) and
economic savings for the consumers and the nation. This is aligned
with the aims of the National Energy Efficiency Master Plan (NEEMP)
(2011−2010) on “Encouraging Energy Efficiency to ensure productive
use of energy and minimize waste to contribute to sustainable devel-
opment and increase welfare and competitiveness”.
Moreover, the educators and governmental agencies should work
with various stakeholders towards improving the moral norms of the
individuals so that they feel morally obligated or having the responsi-
bility to play an important role in reducing electricity consumption
such as through using energy efficient appliances. Taking the Moral
Education (ME) syllabus available in Malaysia education system as an
example, nurturing a sense of obligation or responsibility to take care
for the environment is viewed as one of the effective policy to foster
energy savings responsibility among younger generations. One of the
learning values cover in the Moral Education like values related to the
environment which emphasizes on ‘loving and caring for the environ-
ment, harmony between man and the environment, sustainability of
the environment, and sensitivity towards environmental issues’
469
Energy Policy 107 (2017) 459–471
(Balakrishnan, 2010, p. 99) such as using energy efficient appliances
to reduce energy consumption could be disseminated and embedded
among students. Consequently, Moral Education is viewed as an
important channel for connecting related moral values in fostering a
sense of responsibilities among younger generations especially in
energy savings consumption.
On the other hand, the role of education institutions such as Center
for Education and Training in Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency
and Green Technology (CETREE) (2017) at Universiti Sains Malaysia
also played an integral part in fostering awareness on energy efficient
and renewable energy among students. CETREE developed curricula
that incorporating energy efficiency for courses targeting primary and
secondary schools. Moreover, many events and exhibitions on energy
efficiency also been organized by CETREE to disseminate knowledge
and to raise the awareness on energy efficiency among schools’
children. This collaboration with the educators to nurture young
citizens will help to develop a moral obligation or responsibility to
reduce energy consumption and this will guide them in their future
purchase on energy efficient products. Therefore, providing the neces-
sary knowledge through education to individuals at a younger age will
help them to understand how energy efficient may solve environmental
problem and how it could affect their daily lives if they are practicing
appropriate energy consumption for household usage. As argued by
Bhati et al. (2017), household will have to bear the negative impacts on
energy savings if they are no proper education and guidance is
available.
6. Conclusion
In this study, we developed and examine a research model that
explains the consumer purchase intention for energy-efficient house-
hold appliances based on the extension of moral norm in the Theory of
Planned Behavior (TPB). In general, this study focuses on the relation-
ship between attitudes, environmental concern, environmental knowl-
edge, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, moral norm and
purchase intention for energy-efficient household appliances. A survey
questionnaire was used to collect data from consumers in Penang,
Malaysia. Structural equation modelling technique using PLS was
adopted to analysed the data collected and to test the research
hypotheses. Three hypotheses were supported out of the total six.
The results indicate that attitude, perceived behavioral control and
moral norm were positively significant with purchase intention for
energy-efficient household appliances. Contrary to some past studies,
environmental concern, environmental knowledge and subjective norm
were not found to have a significant relationship with purchase
intention.
A number of limitations associated with this study are worth noting.
First, the cross-sectional self-reporting questionnaires, rather than the
observation of actual behavior in this study, may inherit self-report bias
and social desirability bias, which may not reflect the actual situations,
in which there were possibilities of under-reporting and over-reporting.
Second, the convenience sampling method in this study has resulted in
a demographic bias toward Chinese ethnic domination, which does not
follow the ethnic distribution in Malaysia. Researchers can further
explore consumers’ purchase intention toward energy-efficient house-
hold appliances using qualitative methods, which may provide deeper
insights into consumers’ psychological state. The same study should be
further expanded to various states in Malaysia, obtaining a true
representation of ethnic group distribution to achieve results that can
be somewhat generalizable to the nation. Going further, a cross-
cultural or cross-national study may be conducted to provide a better
understanding of underpinning issues because different cultures and
countries may produce different results in behavioral studies. In
summary, despite its limitations, this study adds to our understanding
of consumers purchase intention for energy-efficient household appli-
ances in Malaysia context.
C.-S. Tan et al.
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