The Multidimensionality of Consumption: Energy Lifestyles

This chapter enhances the previous understanding of Energy Lifestyles by identifying groups with distinct patterns of energy behavior across six areas of life. In contrast to most previous studies, the identification of groups is exclusively conducted on the basis of behavior-related data, whereas the characterization of the groups follows in a second step using psychological and socio-demographic variables. This chapter explicitly considers the multidimensionality of behavior and provides a comprehensive overview of different Energy Lifestyles and their potential roles in energy transition. The finding that there are almost no “average users” points out that policy designs must go beyond average figures based on the national emission figures and need to focus on different Energy Lifestyles.