Factors associated with attitude towards purchasing intention on inverter air conditioner among Thai consumers

Abstract

Factors associated with Thai Consumers’ attitude towards purchasing intention on higher efficiency Air conditioner (AC) was investigated in this study. Consumers’ current preference factors on AC purchasing as well as characteristics of consumers who bought AC during the recent 5 years were firstly investigated by descriptive analysis. Relationship between consumers’ purchasing attitude towards higher efficiency AC and their concern on three issues (inverter, information on energy label, and payback period) as well as their knowledge on two issues (inverter and information on energy label) was then analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM) using data collected from 202 Thai consumers having characteristic difference in gender, age, education level, and income level. The findings indicate that price, size (cooling capacity in BTU/hour), quality, brand, and energy efficiency are top-five priorities that the respondents would consider when buying AC. Up on characteristic comparisons of respondents who bought inverter and non-inverter AC, it was found that higher portion of respondents who bought inverter AC are males and most of which are those having high education with bachelor degree upward. Meanwhile, age, income level, and background on environmental issues appear to exhibit low impact on decision to buy inverter AC. In SEM analysis, positive relationships between the concerns of three issues and the purchasing attitude toward higher efficiency AC were confirmed; while no significant impact of knowledge factors was observed in this study. The results imply that key purchasing factors on higher efficiency household AC in Thailand are consumers’ concern on inverter, information on energy label, and payback period information. However, encouraging consumers to have both concern and knowledge on key related issues would be an effective way to enhance purchasing green products and/or energy efficient products.