Date of Award

11-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Department

School of Business

First Advisor

Dr. Paul Shelton

Second Advisor

Dr. Tim Veach

Third Advisor

Dr. Kristina Holton

Abstract

The energy-supply industry is faced with aggregate global energy demand growth associated with the simultaneous impact of worldwide increasing population and decreasing poverty (with its associated increased access to energy choices), thus, increasing both total and per capita world-wide energy usage. Concomitant with energy demand growth, though, there are widening and deepening concerns among many regarding the impact of energy-related pollution, which is accompanied by an associated, growing interest in clean, renewable sources of energy. In this milieu, solar energy has provided a rapidly growing supply of power solutions (though still a small overall proportion).

The intent for this doctoral dissertation research into decision making by consumers regarding adopting solar power for their personal residences is to understand how availability of the growing solar segment of the energy market is perceived and understood by consumers and potential consumers of solar power. The research design to pursue this intent is twofold: first, to understand what is the decision process that research participants use to a) identify and consider which background factors are consequential and b) determine how to best analyze the factors to assess possible benefits of adopting solar energy technology for their personal energy use, and second, to assess if the decision processes described by research participants fit within the theoretical framework of the widely-utilized Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) – especially considering actual control to follow through on intention, or if other factors prevent the desired behavior. As solar energy may be understood by many to be a “technology”, added to the standard TPB parameters of beliefs about behaviors and norms and control are the Technology Adoption Model (TAM) considerations usefulness and ease of use.

The methodology chosen to accomplish this research intention in this present study is the qualitative approach Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The goal of IPA is to seek to understand the lived experiences of individuals as they relate to some experience (or “phenomenon”), and then ground (or “interpret”) that information in an applicable theory that further describes and frames the situation. Wide-ranging review of existing literature found much applicable decision theory research regarding the solar energy field that employed various qualitative methodologies, including phenomenology. However, the combination of using IPA methodologies to investigate decision theory and factors applied to the field of residential solar power is not a widely pursued area of study. Even fewer studies (in actuality, none were uncovered in the extensive research undertaken to provide the foundation of this present study) are focused on researching this topic with this methodology in the region that was chosen for this present study – the Pacific Northwest of the United States, with the accompanying persistent and widely-held perceptions often ascribed to the region of cloudiness and also of comparatively available and cost-effective existing electrical utility power – both anticipated to be likely key factors in consumer beliefs affirmed by this present study.

The thought processes and considerations derived from the deep and wide-ranging conversations with the six research participants in this present study, taken together and analyzed for common characteristics, yielded six major themes that impacted their decision processes: 1) their background factors, such as upbringing, finances, and education; 2) their sources for the knowledge that they depended on for their decision making, like partners, family, friends, government, and industry; 3) their individual values and feelings about varied topics, including energy, technology, finance, and the environment; 4) their levels and application of understanding in various fields related to the topic, most specifically energy, solar energy, and energy markets, but also including a variety of related fields including investment, real estate and even public policy; 5) their general understanding and prioritization of their own values and beliefs and how they choose them and choose to employ them in their lives and in their general decision making, including in the specific decision regarding solar energy for their homes; and, 6) their own understanding of how they go about making their own decisions, for example, whether they tend to more methodically or more intuitively come to a conclusion.

When these themes are assessed, both singly in the stories of each individual and jointly for all six research participants, it is clear that the factors identified in TPM and TAM were freely identified in the decision processes, both by the three participants who ultimately determined to become consumers of solar power and install it on the roofs of their own houses, as well as by the remaining three participants who have elected to date to not become consumers in that way. Because of the particular blend of topic, methodology, and region in this dissertation, affirming and understanding this consumer behavior in this way contributes: deeper understanding of the factors and decision processes used by consumers of solar – even in regions perceived to be less applicable for the technology; and, value – not just to practical applications of the fields but also to existing scholarly research in various business and non-business disciplines including strategy, marketing, energy, and public policy – to name just a few.

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