Configuration analysis of influencing factors of energy-saving behaviors: From the perspective of consumers' pro-environmental characteristics and environmentally friendly social atmosphere

The consumers' energy-saving behavior is a key initiative to relieve greenhouse gas emissions and promote economic development. Existing studies mostly analyze the influence of specific variables on energy-saving behaviors, neglecting their synergistic effects. Based on the combination of personal factors and environmental factors, a linkage model between consumers' pro-environmental characteristics and environmentally friendly social atmosphere is constructed. 791 survey data are analyzed by fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The results show that: (1) There are two modes that drive consumers' energy-saving behaviors: personal pro-environmental characteristics dominated mode and environmentally friendly social atmosphere dominated mode; (2) The configurations constructed with different dimensions of personal pro-environmental characteristics and environmentally friendly social atmosphere have complementary effects on energy-saving behaviors; (3) Both environmental values and social reference norm are important to promote consumers' energy-saving behaviors.