{"id":{"repo_id":"tu-berlin","oai_identifier":"oai:depositonce.tu-berlin.de:11303/22339"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/tu-berlin/oai:depositonce.tu-berlin.de:11303/22339","repository":{"repo_id":"tu-berlin","name":"Technische Universität Berlin","base_url":"https://api-depositonce.tu-berlin.de/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Social dynamics of energy consumption","abstract":"Consumers are at the heart of the energy system. The changing consumption patterns embodied in routine purchases significantly influence the extent of climate change impacts. Yet, their prominence in the energy demand and supply paradigm lends them the potential to also act as agents of change in accelerating energy transitions. Collectively, the mitigation actions associated with systemic changes in consumer behaviour and lifestyles, service provisions and associated socio-technical transitions that modify demand for goods and services, comprise of the class of demand-side solutions. The research presented in this thesis identifies entry points for further the understanding of demand-side factors interact with consumption levels and their scope for mitigating climate change. Specifically, I investigate social status, status perception and social trust as drivers of greenhouse gas emissions and, inversely, as contributors to climate solutions. My analysis focuses on the developing country case of India, that is expected to significantly contribute to the emissions pathway as it grows and urbanises. I adopt a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches, using secondary and primary household data to determine the direction and significance of the factors with energy demand. I find status perception to be highly significant in driving energy-intensive consumption in terms of car and appliances ownership amongst urban dwellers. Further, through the results I highlight the relevance contextual information such as daily routines, energy use devices and modes of transport owned and used by households, in determining how status is associated with consumption-intensive and -reducing behaviours. Secondly, I also find social trust to play a key role in connecting social elements of the governance system and effective climate policies. The thesis thus highlights the policy relevance of the research insights in terms of targeting high status individuals to test low-carbon solutions and increasing the resolution on status and energy consumption linkages. Understanding the interaction between difference demand-side factors, contexts and consumption behaviours is crucial to long-term sustainability of even the technology-driven mitigation solutions, in emerging economies and especially in industrialized countries.","abstract_html":"Consumers are at the heart of the energy system. The changing consumption patterns embodied in routine purchases significantly influence the extent of climate change impacts. Yet, their prominence in the energy demand and supply paradigm lends them the potential to also act as agents of change in accelerating energy transitions. Collectively, the mitigation actions associated with systemic changes in consumer behaviour and lifestyles, service provisions and associated socio-technical transitions that modify demand for goods and services, comprise of the class of demand-side solutions. The research presented in this thesis identifies entry points for further the understanding of demand-side factors interact with consumption levels and their scope for mitigating climate change. Specifically, I investigate social status, status perception and social trust as drivers of greenhouse gas emissions and, inversely, as contributors to climate solutions. My analysis focuses on the developing country case of India, that is expected to significantly contribute to the emissions pathway as it grows and urbanises. I adopt a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches, using secondary and primary household data to determine the direction and significance of the factors with energy demand. I find status perception to be highly significant in driving energy-intensive consumption in terms of car and appliances ownership amongst urban dwellers. Further, through the results I highlight the relevance contextual information such as daily routines, energy use devices and modes of transport owned and used by households, in determining how status is associated with consumption-intensive and -reducing behaviours. Secondly, I also find social trust to play a key role in connecting social elements of the governance system and effective climate policies. The thesis thus highlights the policy relevance of the research insights in terms of targeting high status individuals to test low-carbon solutions and increasing the resolution on status and energy consumption linkages. Understanding the interaction between difference demand-side factors, contexts and consumption behaviours is crucial to long-term sustainability of even the technology-driven mitigation solutions, in emerging economies and especially in industrialized countries.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ramakrishnan, Anjali"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Creutzig, Felix"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024","date_published":"2024","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:28:29Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-21140"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-21140","href":"https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-21140","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://depositonce.tu-berlin.de/handle/11303/22339","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Creutzig, Felix"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ramakrishnan, Anjali"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2024-10-21T05:34:57Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-10-21T05:34:57Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2024"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Doctoral Thesis"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://depositonce.tu-berlin.de/handle/11303/22339","https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-21140"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Consumers are at the heart of the energy system. The changing consumption patterns embodied in routine purchases significantly influence the extent of climate change impacts. Yet, their prominence in the energy demand and supply paradigm lends them the potential to also act as agents of change in accelerating energy transitions. Collectively, the mitigation actions associated with systemic changes in consumer behaviour and lifestyles, service provisions and associated socio-technical transitions that modify demand for goods and services, comprise of the class of demand-side solutions. The research presented in this thesis identifies entry points for further the understanding of demand-side factors interact with consumption levels and their scope for mitigating climate change. Specifically, I investigate social status, status perception and social trust as drivers of greenhouse gas emissions and, inversely, as contributors to climate solutions. My analysis focuses on the developing country case of India, that is expected to significantly contribute to the emissions pathway as it grows and urbanises. I adopt a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches, using secondary and primary household data to determine the direction and significance of the factors with energy demand. I find status perception to be highly significant in driving energy-intensive consumption in terms of car and appliances ownership amongst urban dwellers. Further, through the results I highlight the relevance contextual information such as daily routines, energy use devices and modes of transport owned and used by households, in determining how status is associated with consumption-intensive and -reducing behaviours. Secondly, I also find social trust to play a key role in connecting social elements of the governance system and effective climate policies. The thesis thus highlights the policy relevance of the research insights in terms of targeting high status individuals to test low-carbon solutions and increasing the resolution on status and energy consumption linkages. Understanding the interaction between difference demand-side factors, contexts and consumption behaviours is crucial to long-term sustainability of even the technology-driven mitigation solutions, in emerging economies and especially in industrialized countries.","Die Verbraucher sind das Herzstück des Energiesystems. Die sich ändernden Verbrauchsmuster, die sich in Routinekäufen niederschlagen, beeinflussen das Ausmaß der Auswirkungen des Klimawandels erheblich. Aufgrund ihrer herausragenden Stellung im Paradigma der Energienachfrage und -versorgung haben sie jedoch auch das Potenzial, bei der Beschleunigung des Energiewandels als Akteure des Wandels zu fungieren. Die Maßnahmen zur Abschwächung des Klimawandels, die mit systemischen Veränderungen des Verbraucherverhaltens und des Lebensstils, des Dienstleistungsangebots und der damit verbundenen soziotechnischen Veränderungen, die die Nachfrage nach Gütern und Dienstleistungen verändern, einhergehen, bilden zusammengenommen die Klasse der nachfrageseitigen Lösungen. Die in dieser Arbeit vorgestellten Forschungsarbeiten zeigen Ansatzpunkte für ein besseres Verständnis der nachfrageseitigen Faktoren auf, die mit dem Verbrauchsniveau interagieren, und deren Möglichkeiten zur Eindämmung des Klimawandels. Konkret untersuche ich den sozialen Status, die Statuswahrnehmung und das soziale Vertrauen als Triebkräfte für Treibhausgasemissionen und umgekehrt als Beitrag zu Lösungen für den Klimawandel. Meine Analyse konzentriert sich auf das Entwicklungsland Indien, von dem erwartet wird, dass es mit seinem Wachstum und seiner Verstädterung erheblich zum Emissionspfad beitragen wird. Ich wende eine Kombination aus theoretischen und empirischen Ansätzen an und verwende sekundäre und primäre Haushaltsdaten, um die Richtung und die Bedeutung der Faktoren für die Energienachfrage zu bestimmen. Ich stelle fest, dass die Statuswahrnehmung für den energieintensiven Verbrauch in Bezug auf den Besitz von Autos und Geräten bei Stadtbewohnern von großer Bedeutung ist. Darüber hinaus unterstreiche ich anhand der Ergebnisse die Relevanz von Kontextinformationen wie tägliche Routinen, Energie verbrauchende Geräte und Verkehrsmittel, die die Haushalte besitzen und nutzen, bei der Bestimmung des Zusammenhangs zwischen Status und verbrauchsintensivem und -reduzierendem Verhalten. Zweitens stelle ich fest, dass soziales Vertrauen eine Schlüsselrolle bei der Verknüpfung von sozialen Elementen des Governance-Systems und effektiver Klimapolitik spielt. Die These unterstreicht somit die politische Relevanz der Forschungserkenntnisse im Hinblick auf die Ausrichtung auf Personen mit hohem Status zur Erprobung kohlenstoffarmer Lösungen und die Verbesserung der Auflösung der Zusammenhänge zwischen Status und Energieverbrauch. Das Verständnis der Interaktion zwischen unterschiedlichen nachfrageseitigen Faktoren, Kontexten und Verbrauchsverhalten ist entscheidend für die langfristige Nachhaltigkeit selbst technologiegestützter Klimaschutzlösungen, sowohl in Schwellenländern als auch insbesondere in Industrieländern."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Social dynamics of energy consumption"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Creutzig, Felix"],"dc:creator":["Ramakrishnan, Anjali"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2024-10-21T05:34:57Z"],"dc:date.available":["2024-10-21T05:34:57Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2024"],"dc:description.abstract":["Consumers are at the heart of the energy system. The changing consumption patterns embodied in routine purchases significantly influence the extent of climate change impacts. Yet, their prominence in the energy demand and supply paradigm lends them the potential to also act as agents of change in accelerating energy transitions. Collectively, the mitigation actions associated with systemic changes in consumer behaviour and lifestyles, service provisions and associated socio-technical transitions that modify demand for goods and services, comprise of the class of demand-side solutions. The research presented in this thesis identifies entry points for further the understanding of demand-side factors interact with consumption levels and their scope for mitigating climate change. Specifically, I investigate social status, status perception and social trust as drivers of greenhouse gas emissions and, inversely, as contributors to climate solutions. My analysis focuses on the developing country case of India, that is expected to significantly contribute to the emissions pathway as it grows and urbanises. I adopt a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches, using secondary and primary household data to determine the direction and significance of the factors with energy demand. I find status perception to be highly significant in driving energy-intensive consumption in terms of car and appliances ownership amongst urban dwellers. Further, through the results I highlight the relevance contextual information such as daily routines, energy use devices and modes of transport owned and used by households, in determining how status is associated with consumption-intensive and -reducing behaviours. Secondly, I also find social trust to play a key role in connecting social elements of the governance system and effective climate policies. The thesis thus highlights the policy relevance of the research insights in terms of targeting high status individuals to test low-carbon solutions and increasing the resolution on status and energy consumption linkages. Understanding the interaction between difference demand-side factors, contexts and consumption behaviours is crucial to long-term sustainability of even the technology-driven mitigation solutions, in emerging economies and especially in industrialized countries.","Die Verbraucher sind das Herzstück des Energiesystems. Die sich ändernden Verbrauchsmuster, die sich in Routinekäufen niederschlagen, beeinflussen das Ausmaß der Auswirkungen des Klimawandels erheblich. Aufgrund ihrer herausragenden Stellung im Paradigma der Energienachfrage und -versorgung haben sie jedoch auch das Potenzial, bei der Beschleunigung des Energiewandels als Akteure des Wandels zu fungieren. Die Maßnahmen zur Abschwächung des Klimawandels, die mit systemischen Veränderungen des Verbraucherverhaltens und des Lebensstils, des Dienstleistungsangebots und der damit verbundenen soziotechnischen Veränderungen, die die Nachfrage nach Gütern und Dienstleistungen verändern, einhergehen, bilden zusammengenommen die Klasse der nachfrageseitigen Lösungen. Die in dieser Arbeit vorgestellten Forschungsarbeiten zeigen Ansatzpunkte für ein besseres Verständnis der nachfrageseitigen Faktoren auf, die mit dem Verbrauchsniveau interagieren, und deren Möglichkeiten zur Eindämmung des Klimawandels. Konkret untersuche ich den sozialen Status, die Statuswahrnehmung und das soziale Vertrauen als Triebkräfte für Treibhausgasemissionen und umgekehrt als Beitrag zu Lösungen für den Klimawandel. Meine Analyse konzentriert sich auf das Entwicklungsland Indien, von dem erwartet wird, dass es mit seinem Wachstum und seiner Verstädterung erheblich zum Emissionspfad beitragen wird. Ich wende eine Kombination aus theoretischen und empirischen Ansätzen an und verwende sekundäre und primäre Haushaltsdaten, um die Richtung und die Bedeutung der Faktoren für die Energienachfrage zu bestimmen. Ich stelle fest, dass die Statuswahrnehmung für den energieintensiven Verbrauch in Bezug auf den Besitz von Autos und Geräten bei Stadtbewohnern von großer Bedeutung ist. Darüber hinaus unterstreiche ich anhand der Ergebnisse die Relevanz von Kontextinformationen wie tägliche Routinen, Energie verbrauchende Geräte und Verkehrsmittel, die die Haushalte besitzen und nutzen, bei der Bestimmung des Zusammenhangs zwischen Status und verbrauchsintensivem und -reduzierendem Verhalten. Zweitens stelle ich fest, dass soziales Vertrauen eine Schlüsselrolle bei der Verknüpfung von sozialen Elementen des Governance-Systems und effektiver Klimapolitik spielt. Die These unterstreicht somit die politische Relevanz der Forschungserkenntnisse im Hinblick auf die Ausrichtung auf Personen mit hohem Status zur Erprobung kohlenstoffarmer Lösungen und die Verbesserung der Auflösung der Zusammenhänge zwischen Status und Energieverbrauch. Das Verständnis der Interaktion zwischen unterschiedlichen nachfrageseitigen Faktoren, Kontexten und Verbrauchsverhalten ist entscheidend für die langfristige Nachhaltigkeit selbst technologiegestützter Klimaschutzlösungen, sowohl in Schwellenländern als auch insbesondere in Industrieländern."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://depositonce.tu-berlin.de/handle/11303/22339","https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-21140"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:title":["Social dynamics of energy consumption"],"dc:type":["Doctoral Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:28:29Z"}