Jodie Kleinschafer

The Responsiveness of Households to Energy Demand Management Initiatives: Segmenting by Household Types

ABSTRACT Segmentation is often a complex and costly process, which commonly involves identifying groups with differing attitudes and behaviors or demographics. However, the segments generated may not adequately explain differences between consumers, or it can be difficult to identify households for target marketing, which consequently makes it difficult to use segmentation in practice. In this paper we present segmentation by household type as a simple method of segmentation, accessible to nonprofit organizations with limited resources and able to be employed using a secondary data set or with relatively simple data collection and analysis. Despite its simplicity, our findings show that this form of segmentation differentiates well between segments in terms of their actual electricity use, their past efficiency behaviors and preferences for efficiency programs. The results of focus groups and a survey of 4,000 households reveal, among other things, the effect of having children and of marital status on energy use and efficiency behaviors, the high curtailment but low investment behaviors of single parent households, and the low efficiency behaviors of shared households.

Case study: Beavo’s Honey – to grow, or not to grow, that is the question

ABSTRACT This case study explores how participation in affordable and accessible collective community marketing events such as Farmers’ markets, combined with the effective use of social media, can assist rural microbusinesses to prosper and grow. Farmers’ markets provide emerging ventures with an established marketplace, an existing customer base, an enduring physical and virtual presence, and access to support from market organizers and other vendors. However, ongoing participation in collective marketing activities may ultimately present a dilemma for the entrepreneur – whether to remain as a lifestyle venture or to grow into a more sustainable business.