GRAPHICAL ENERGY LABELS AND CONSUMERS DECISIONS ABOUT HOME APPLIANCES- A PROCESS TRACING APPROACH

Previous research has shown that graphical energy labels have limited impact on energy-efficient purchases of home appliances. The present s tudy tested the hypothesis that effectiveness of energy labels is cont ingent on consumers' information search and decision strategies. Using an information display board paradigm, participants acquired informat ion and made a decision with respect to refrigerators. For half of the participants energy information was available in the form of a symbol ic energy label, whereas for the other half energy use was presented i n standard format. Time pressure was manipulated so as to vary partici pants' information search behavior, i.e., the extent to which particip ants employed selective rather than consistent search across alternati ves. As expected, the symbolic label was only effective (i.e., led to more energy-efficient choices) when participants were unpressured by t ime. Cognitive response data indicated that energy information is cons idered less under time pressure. The results suggest that effectivenes s of symbolic labels is optimal in relatively simple decision environm ents.