Antecedents of Consumers’ Intention to Purchase Energy-Efficient Appliances: An Empirical Study Based on the Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of Planned Behavior
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
With all my respect to your work, I encourage you to improve the work. The topic is interesing, but there are issues related to the analyses. For example, the representativeness of the sample size is not established, focusing more on young people (81%) does not inferr a representation of almost the entire nation, factor loadings lower than 0.4 and not 0.5 are most commonly considered, proposals do not have sufficient support from the conducted analysis unless the represenattiveness of the sample is prooved. Moreover, the authors should be more accurately during preparation of the text; there is information that is repeating, using abbreviations explained only in appendix makes difficult to understand, references are not reported according to the journal instructions etc.
Author Response
Point 1: For example, the representativeness of the sample size is not established, focusing more on young people (81%) does not infer a representation of almost the entire nation, factor loadings lower than 0.4 and not 0.5 are most commonly considered, proposals do not have sufficient support from the conducted analysis unless the representativeness of the sample is proved.
Response 1:
We randomly distributed questionnaires through Internet and social network. Among the respondents to this survey, the youngest was 17 years old and the oldest was 38 years old. Considering the age distribution of Internet users in China and the age of users of the questionnaires platform, the respondents tend to be younger. According to the “Statistical Report on the Development of Internet in China” issued by China Internet Information Center, by the year 2016, 87.4% of Internet users were aged from 10 to 49. Among them, people born in 1990s accounted for 47%, which was the largest group of netizens and it was predicted that the next few years users born in 2000s will grow substantially. As we can see, the Internet users in China are relatively young as a whole.
In addition, in 2010, China carried out the sixth census and the result suggested that about 40% of the population was between 15 and 35. According to Accenture's report "Accenture's China Consumer Insight 2018: New Consumer Power", it was supposed that by 2017, people aged 18-35 were about 700 million and accounting for over 50% of the total population.
China reached the fertility peak in the 1990s, thus, when the younger generation starts to work and enters the marriageable age, the demand for household appliances become strong and rigid. In 2013, Data of Consumption of China showed that young people who were born in the 1990s were becoming the mainstream consumer groups in China's household appliances market. Data from Baidu, Chinese top search engine, showed that consumers born after 1995 have become the main consumer force in the household appliances market and the target audience of household appliances manufacturers.
The majority of respondents to our questionnaire were 18 to 25 years old, which were the main force of Chinese household appliances market. On this account, these respondents were representative and their purchasing intentions for energy-efficient household appliances are more in line with China's national conditions and has more practical significance. Paying attention to the consumption orientation of the younger generation is conducive to understanding the promotion direction of energy-saving household appliances in the future.
We took 0.4 as the factor load criterion, but there were errors in writing, which have been corrected in the text now.
Point 2: Moreover, the authors should be more accurately during preparation of the text; there is information that is repeating, using abbreviations explained only in appendix makes difficult to understand, references are not reported according to the journal instructions etc.
Response 2: We re-examined writing and text, and abbreviations have been explained in the text. References reports have also been revised as the journal instructions.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
This is relatively simple, but well-structured and clear contribution on highly relevant topic. In my opinion, the main drawbacks are rather limited data sample and not sufficient literature review. Currenly you
are mainly focussed on the presentation of concepts, but either
introduction or literature review part should also include an overview
of what is done in the field both in China and at international level. This can be further elaborated in discussion part by providing comparissons of your results with the previous research.
Some other comments:
* Please avoid double referencing, like (Lobo and Greenland, 2016) [1]
* In line 217 you claim that the sample represents entire nation. However, it seems that it mainly represents youth (83.6% below 25 yr). It would be reasonable to provide real characteristics (e.g., percentages by age, gender, etc.) of the nation in Table 1 to allow the comparisson with the structure of sample you have used.
* Taking into account the international audience of the journal, it would be useful to include the conversion rate between USD or EUR and RBM (line 225).
* please list the roles of co-authors at the end of the paper. If prof. Wang mentioned in the Acknowledgments is also co-author of this paper, it would be reasonable to reconsider the authorship.
Author Response
Point 1: In my opinion, the main drawbacks are rather limited data sample and not sufficient literature review. Currently you are mainly focussed on the presentation of concepts, but either introduction or literature review part should also include an overview of what is done in the field both in China and at international level. This can be further elaborated in discussion part by providing comparisons of your results with the previous research.
Response 1:
We have summarized and sorted out a small part of related researches about China and the world, and we discussed their points in the text.
In current researches, purchasing and using energy-efficient appliances were taken as energy-saving behaviors. In a survey of Canadian residents, Ritchie et al (1981) found that residents' attitudes had no significant impact on their energy consumption behaviors. Olsen (1983) revealed in a survey of citizens in Washington State that the gender of the respondents had nothing to do with their acceptability of energy-saving strategies. Curtis et al (1984) held the view that the amount of information people can use was positively correlated with the energy-saving activities they take, and if consumers realized that energy conservation could improve their personal interests and promote social progress, they will tend to choose energy-saving activities. Poortinga et al (2003) found that the practical benefits from technological innovation were the best way to drive consumers to accept energy-saving behavior. Oikonomou et al (2009) pointed out that consumers would like to reduce their cost of living by saving energy, so the key to changing consumer behavior was the innovation of energy technology.
In the survey of residents in Hangzhou, Ouyang (2009) reached the same view as Poortinga (2003), emphasizing that technological innovation could bring real benefits to consumers and then encourage them to engage in energy-saving activities. Liu (2010) found that there were some problems in the energy-efficient appliances market, such as insufficient publicity of products, lack of cognition of energy-efficient appliances, manufacturers' inaccurate grasp of consumers' demands. The research results of Deng et al. (2010) showed that consumers’ willingness to buy energy-efficient appliances was mainly based on the consideration of their health, safety and interests, rather than environmental awareness. Sun et al. (2011) found that consumers' attention to energy issues, the desire to reduce household expenditure and the enhancement of normative awareness all contributed to the purchase of energy-saving products. Mi et al. (2011) found that social norms had a positive impact on consumers' awareness of energy conservation, but they do not play a significant role in choosing and purchasing energy-efficient appliances. Zhang et al. (2011) believed that the information about energy conservation received by the domestic people was still relatively scarce.
In this research, we tested the factors that influencing the purchasing behavior of energy-efficient appliances based on the combination of TAM and TPB. The results indicated that perceived ease of use influenced perceived usefulness and these two factors influenced consumers’ attitude towards purchasing. Then subjective norm and perceived behavioral control had positive effect on buying intention, which was similar to the point of Oikonomou (2009), Sun (2011) and Mi (2011).
In this research, we found that consumers’ attitudes affect intentions, however, Ritchie (1981) reported that consumers' attitudes didn't lead to their actual behaviors，therefore, the relationship between energy-saving attitudes, intentions and behaviors needs to be further studied. Nevertheless, we also found that the relationship between perceived usefulness and intention was not significant. Taking the domestic situation and previous findings into account, we could make sense of this result. Enough relevant information was important for consumers and once they were short of adequate and effective information of energy-efficient appliances so that they would be unable to make up their mind to purchasing it firmly.
Point 2: Please avoid double referencing, like (Lobo and Greenland, 2016) [1].
Response 2: We have corrected this problem in the text.
Point 3: In line 217 you claim that the sample represents entire nation. However, it seems that it mainly represents youth (83.6% below 25 yr). It would be reasonable to provide real characteristics (e.g., percentages by age, gender, etc.) of the nation in Table 1 to allow the comparison with the structure of sample you have used.
Response 3:
We randomly distributed questionnaires through Internet and social network. Among the respondents to this survey, the youngest was 17 years old and the oldest was 38 years old. Considering the age distribution of Internet users in China and the age of users of the questionnaires platform, the respondents tend to be younger. According to the “Statistical Report on the Development of Internet in China” issued by China Internet Information Center, by the year 2016, 87.4% of Internet users were aged from 10 to 49. Among them, people born in 1990s accounted for 47%, which was the largest group of netizens and it was predicted that the next few years users born in 2000s will grow substantially. As we can see, the Internet users in China are relatively young as a whole.
In addition, in 2010, China carried out the sixth census and the result suggested that about 40% of the population was between 15 and 35. According to Accenture's report "Accenture's China Consumer Insight 2018: New Consumer Power", it was supposed that by 2017, people aged 18-35 were about 700 million and accounting for over 50% of the total population.
China reached the fertility peak in the 1990s, thus, when the younger generation starts to work and enters the marriageable age, the demand for household appliances become strong and rigid. In 2013, Data of Consumption of China showed that young people who were born in the 1990s were becoming the mainstream consumer groups in China's household appliances market. Data from Baidu, Chinese top search engine, showed that consumers born after 1995 have become the main consumer force in the household appliances market and the target audience of household appliances manufacturers.
The majority of respondents to our questionnaire were 18 to 25 years old, which were the main force of Chinese household appliances market. On this account, these respondents were representative and their purchasing intentions for energy-efficient household appliances are more in line with China's national conditions and has more practical significance. Paying attention to the consumption orientation of the younger generation is conducive to understanding the promotion direction of energy-saving household appliances in the future.
The ratio of male to female in China is about 104:100 while women are the majority of Chinese household appliances shoppers. According to the data of Suning, China's leading household appliances chain retailers, female users accounted for 62% of the users who ordered household appliances during the Double Eleventh Period (Internet Shopping Festival).
Point 4: Taking into account the international audience of the journal, it would be useful to include the conversion rate between USD or EUR and RBM (line 225).
Response 4: We have added the exchange rate between US dollar and RMB.
Point 5: Please list the roles of co-authors at the end of the paper. If prof. Wang mentioned in the Acknowledgments is also co-author of this paper, it would be reasonable to reconsider the authorship [1].
Response 5: Professor Wang's contribution, which we listed when we submitted the article, will be illustrate at the end of the article.
Shanyong Wang: Text review and editing.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
I thank the authors for the opportunity to read their manuscript.
I think that results are interesting and the work has scientific rigor. However, I would recommend improving the following points:
Research gap: please state why we need this research under a theoretical perspective. I understand that the issue is relevant for China and for thr world, but we miss a clear research gap on a theoretical perspective.
In methodology, you might want to explain why with such a low number of subjects you employed SEM and not SEM-PLS, that works better with a low number of subjects. Cite at least other papers published in good journals that employ SEM with your number of subjects to support your choice
Develop better your theoretical and managerial implications: what it the theoretical contribution of your work? To what extent you are providing something new for the theory?
Provide limitations of your research and further research directions.
Language proofreading: please proofread the article by using a professional proofreading service
Author Response
Point 1: Research gap: please state why we need this research under a theoretical perspective. I understand that the issue is relevant for China and for thr world, but we miss a clear research gap on a theoretical perspective. Response 1: Although energy-efficient appliances have been sold in the Chinese household appliances market for some years, they don’t gain high market share. Currently, most of the studies in China focused on the role of government policy subsidies in stimulating consumers to buy energy-efficient appliances, yet, little attention was paid to the effects of the characteristics of energy-efficient appliances on consumers' decision-making. Energy-efficient appliances are essentially consumption products, hence, we explored the attraction of energy-efficient appliances to consumers from the perspective of taking energy-efficient appliances as new products with advanced energy-saving technology. Under comprehensive consideration of the features of energy-efficient appliances and consumers' personal resources, we discussed the influencing factors of consumers' purchasing willingness of energy-efficient appliances to enrich the relevant researches and fill in the blanks. Point 2: In methodology, you might want to explain why with such a low number of subjects you employed SEM and not SEM-PLS, that works better with a low number of subjects. Cite at least other papers published in good journals that employ SEM with your number of subjects to support your choice. Response 2: Jackson (2003) thought that the N:q rule (N:q rule) could be used to roughly determine the number of samples required. Where N is the number of samples, p is the parameter that needs to be estimated in the model. The recommended proportion is 20:1 and it can also be relaxed to 10:1. Bentler et al (1987) pointed out that the sample number and the estimated parameters must be at least 5:1 of the ratio to ensure that the estimated value of the parameter is credible, At the same time, this ratio should be at least 10:1 to ensure the validity of the significance test. Therefore, two of the literature recommended that 10:1 is the proportion of comparative insurance. For a paper using SEM as an analytical method, Barrett (2007) suggested that the sample volume more than 200 was more appropriate, although this was not an absolute criterion. Based on the 5:1 ratios given by Bentler et al (1987), it was suggested that the sample number should be greater than 10 times the number of questions in the questionnaire. In general, to be more rigorous, before collecting data, the structural equation model should be determined with the estimated parameters, and the minimum number of samples required should be calculated according to the N:q rule. Scuotto et al (2017) surveyed 175 companies using the method of structural equation model to know the key factors for them to make a preference for the informal inbound open innovation (OI). To explore relationships between lean manufacturing practices, environmental management and business performance outcomes, Yang et al (2011) surveyed 309 manufacturing enterprises and used structural equation modeling to analyze. Point 3: Develop better your theoretical and managerial implications: what it the theoretical contribution of your work? To what extent you are providing something new for the theory? Response 3: Technology acceptance model is mainly applied in the field of information technology, and has gradually expanded to other fields in recent years, such as the research of asynchronous e-learning system (Ong,2004), smart appliances (Toft,2014), electric vehicle (Tang, 2014), etc. In this study, through the analysis of energy-efficient appliances, the application field of technology acceptance model was further expanded, which also reflected its wide applicability. Besides, we further studied the impact of Energy Label on consumers by comparison, and the results showed that there were significant differences in the impact of certain factors on consumers of different groups, which provided a new way of thinking for the follow-up research. Point 4: Provide limitations of your research and further research directions. Response 4: In spite of a few interesting conclusions and implications in the research, there are some limitations should be noted. Firstly, the study focused on purchasing intentions of consumers, while consumers’ behaviors are not completely determined by their intentions. Thus, future researches could pay more attention to purchasing behaviors rather than intentions. In addition, the sample of the study was concentrated on young people which may cause some deviation in the result. Although they are the most potential consumer groups, expanding types of sample will make the conclusions more scientific and effective. At last, whether consumers understand Energy Label could influence their purchasing intentions to some extent, thus further research on the mechanism that how the Energy Label influence consumers’ purchasing intentions is necessarily. Point 5: Language proofreading: please proofread the article by using a professional proofreading service. Response 5: We have checked the text and submitted the proofreading service to correct the text.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
This is the second review of the manuscript. Although information was brought about the age range of the population by justifying the 81% of young respondents, the representativeness of the sample size is still not established. In order to conclude at national level, the sample size need to be representative. What method was used to determine the sample size? Unless a statistical answer is provided the conclusions can not be generalized.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 Comments Point 1: Although information was brought about the age range of the population by justifying the 81% of young respondents, the representativeness of the sample size is still not established. In order to conclude at national level, the sample size need to be representative. What method was used to determine the sample size? Unless a statistical answer is provided the conclusions cannot be generalized. Response 1: With regard to the determination of sample size of the survey, we referred to the views of Wu (2010). Wu (2010) noted that, the sample size was required to be more than 5 times the number of measurement items. Especially, to get a better result, it should be at least 10 times larger than the number of measurement items. Hence, since there were 25 measurement items, the sample size should be at least 125, preferably more than 250. In this study, there were 331 people responding to the questionnaire. After removing unqualified or incomplete responses, final sample decreased to 280. Besides, on the representativeness of the samples, our survey was conducted online and the respondents were registered members of Survey Star, a professional questionnaire platform. Generally speaking, the demographic characteristics of the sample, such as gender and residential location were roughly consistent with the actual Chinese residents’ demographic profile. Though age, educational level and monthly household income were different from actual Chinese residents’ demographic profile, they were congruent with the demographic profile of Survey Star members (Gao, 2014) [26]. In comparison with the actual Chinses residents’ demographic profile, the members of Survey Star were relatively young, rich and well educated (Gao, 2014) [26]. Meanwhile, Internet users in China are mainly younger people. Therefore, the sample of this survey was representative. Due to time and cost constraints, the sample collection was mainly completed on the questionnaire platform, which leaded to a high proportion of young people in the sample and we also mentioned this issue in the limitations. Previous researches on energy-efficient appliances were added and compared them with the results of this paper. The format of the chapter has also been adjusted to make it clearer. Finally, we have added some suggestions from three different standpoints of enterprises, consumers and the state to make the content more complete. Meanwhile, we have used the recommended MDPI language editing service. And we submitted the modified version here.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
I suggest that the authors undertake a serious English proofreading by contacting a native professional proofreader. The quality of the language is still very low and not appropriate for the journal.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 3
Comments Point 1: I suggest that the authors undertake a serious English proofreading by contacting a native professional proofreader. The quality of the language is still very low and not appropriate for the journal.
Response 1: We have used the recommended MDPI language editing service. And we submitted the modified version here.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 3
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript has been improved. However, the sample size was not calculated based on any statistical methods, thus it is mandatory to state that the sample size is a limitation and results cannot be generalized.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 Comments
Point 1: The manuscript has been improved. However, the sample size was not calculated based on any statistical methods, thus it is mandatory to state that the sample size is a limitation and results cannot be generalized.
Response 1:
We have made the statement in section Limitations that the sample size was limited.
The sample size of this research was determined by the number of measurement items according to Wu (2010) rather than statistical method, thus there were a limitation in sample size and we must admit that the results cannot be generalized. In further research, we will calculate the sample size based on appropriate statistical method to make the results more generally applicable.
In addition, in order to make the article more fluent, we have made some minor detail adjustments.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
