Trust in eco-labels within the electricity sector : A quantitative comparison between Sweden and Australia

Sammanfattning

Global electricity demand is increasing, which is contributing to climate change and posing threats to our planet's sustainability. Making informed decisions in the electricity market can be challenging for consumers, as it can be difficult to assess the quality and the origin of the electricity they purchase. Eco-labels are a tool that can be used to minimize these information gaps and reduce uncertainty if they are used in a transparent way. The effectiveness of eco-labels also depends on consumers' trust in them, however the trust in the labels can be influenced by many factors. This study examines how trust in eco-labels is affected by perceived greenwashing, knowledge of eco-labels and environmental attitude, with a comparison between Sweden and Australia, two countries that have different kinds of energy policies. This study contributes to research by providing new insights regarding trust in eco-labels on the electricity market. An extended framework is developed and tested through a quantitative study based on online surveys. Several statistical analyses were conducted to test the framework and address the research questions including, descriptive statics, correlation analysis, t-test and a multiple regression analysis. One of the main findings of the study is that the knowledge of eco-labels is a positive predictor of trust in both countries. In Sweden, knowledge was the only independent variable with a significant positive effect andcorrelation with trust. In Australia, knowledge was a positive predictor for trust and perceived greenwashing as a negative predictor for trust, both these variables did also have a significant correlation with trust. Environmental attitudes do not significantly predict trust in either country, although environmental attitudes were relatively high in both countries. The only statistically significant difference between the two countries concerned environmental attitudes, where the Australian sample demonstrated a higher level of environmental attitude.