Sustainable Energy Behaviors through Green Information Systems: An Exploratory Study

Green IS platforms provide new opportunities for educating users on how they can reduce energy consumption in the household and lessen their carbon footprint through targeted actions. However, our understanding of how to design green IS platforms for the promotion of sustainable energy behaviours over time and among user groups remains nascent. This challenge is amplified by the 'invisible' nature of users' patterns of interaction with energy systems and the environmental impact of unconscious habits in private households. Our study presents findings from a 36-month EU project which designed an e-learning platform to help users adopt energy-efficient behaviours. Building on semi-structured interviews and a two-hour focus group with 26 subject matter experts, we identify three user representations: energy unaware, living in denial, and energy aware and active. We conclude by developing a touchpoint model to discuss the digital interventions needed to promote sustainable energy behaviours across user-owned, social/external, market-owned and company-owned touchpoints.