Take The Power Back: Encouraging Households To Invest In Solar Panels And Home Batteries
The depletion of conventional energy sources and the need for solar energy in Australia
Discuss about the Predicting Consumer Intentions to Purchase.
The topic selected for this paper is “Take the power back” to encourage the households to purchase solar panels and home batteries. The conventional energy sources of the earth are depleting, so the consumers must use solar energy to perform their daily activities. This topic needs to be investigated to analyze the scope of this energy in Australia.
The target market for solar panels and home batteries in Australia are the group of people whose age lies between 30 to 38 years. This target audience comprises of both men and women living in urban and rural areas.
The opportunity statement of the topic is the acceptance of these products among the citizens of Australia. They want to save their electricity bills and protect their environment.
Generally, there are two main types of energy sources; conventional energy and unconventional energy sources. Reserves of conventional fuels, like coal, oil and natural gas on earth is limited and it is not renewable. On the other hand, solar energy is a renewable and clean energy source and it is a cost-effective option for the homeowners. According to Gordon, Dibb, Magee, Cooper and Waitt, (2018), Australian citizens are struggling to pay their increasing power bills for quite some time. The energy network generators are not able to cope with the increase in the demand for the energy, thus increasing the problems for the Australian citizens. In the words of Bang, Ellinger, Hadjimarcou and Traichal, (2000), this problem can be solved with the help of solar panels and storage products like home batteries. These products are available in the Australian market for quite some time. As per Ha and Janda, (2012), however, these products are not marketed properly to increase their adoption by the Australians.
Solar panels and home batteries is an efficient way to lower the carbon footprint of the use of home electricity. These equipment are good for the environment and reduces the electricity bills of the house. These equipment do not need huge maintenance costs. As stated by Ha and Janda, (2012), despite these benefits, the solar energy market is hampered by many factors. These barriers are social, technological, economic, management and policy. The quality of the solar panels plays an important role in their adoption by the homeowners of Australia. Quality of performance by the solar panels and home batteries is also considered by these customers while choosing this equipment. The market of solar panels in Australia is highly residential unlike in many other countries. In the opinions of Rani, (2014), one of these factors is the reduction of incentives by the government. The high price of solar panels would not increase the adoption, so the marketers have to decrease the price of the equipment. Due to this, the companies cannot generate much profit. As evaluated by Fallatah and Syed, (2018), targeting wrong customers can also decrease the adoption level of this equipment. These are the reasons for which the adoption of these technologies is not promoted to a greater extent among the homeowners of the country.
Target market for solar panels and home batteries in Australia
By the words of Fallatah and Syed, (2018), consumer behavior theories and models are used to predict the behavior of consumers within a particular market. In this particular case, the Hierarchy of Needs would be used to investigate the opportunity. According to this theory, a behavior of the consumers depends on the level of their needs and motivation. These factors play a significant role in deciding the behavior of the consumers in the market. As stated by Ha and Janda, (2012), the needs of an individual consist of physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, esteem and actualization needs. By purchasing this equipment, the consumers will be able to fulfill their safety needs. This is a type of investment which will enable them to secure their future and the future of their family members as well. They will be able to save electricity bills and increase the energy efficiency of their house. Investing in this equipment, hey will be able to secure the future of their family.
According to Gordon, Dibb, Magee, Cooper and Waitt, (2018), these consumers will be able to increase the efficiency of their electricity systems of their homes using this equipment. They will able to increase the cost-effectiveness of their electricity systems and reduce the level of carbon footprint. They will able to save the price of the electricity using in times of crisis. These consumers do not have to suffer through the crisis if they install this equipment in their homes. These needs of the consumer provide an excellent opportunity for the marketers while marketing their products. The solar energy market can cater to the needs of these customers and market their solar panels and home batteries. This is a type of lifetime investment which can fulfill the needs of the safety of these customers. They will be able to contribute positively to the protection of their surrounding environment. As stated by Bang, Ellinger, Hadjimarcou and Traichal, (2000), purchasing this equipment will allow them to fulfill their esteem needs. It will also help them to fulfill their esteem needs by installing solar panels and decreasing the level of the carbon footprint of their electricity systems. They will also be able to reduce the level of pollution from their electrical systems and protect their environment. They will be able to positively influence their environment, thus able to fulfill their safety and self-esteem needs using this equipment.
Barriers to adoption of solar panels and home batteries in Australia
The consumers will act on the basis of their needs and motivated to purchase an item according to them. In this case, the needs of the consumer are to ensure their own safety and the safety of their family. The marketers can use this need to develop their marketing strategy and increase the number of customers of the company (Rani, 2014). They can target their prospective customers and say that this is an investment for the better future. In the future, the conventional energy sources will be depleted and they will not get replenished. So the use of solar panels is only going to increase in the future. However, the price associated will also increase with the increase in the demand. Purchasing these solar panels and home batteries will enable these customers to install these products in their house at a comparatively low price. The marketers can also explain the benefits of using the products to their prospective customers. A marketing strategy which will cater to the safety needs of these customers will enable the marketers to increase the sales of these products among the homeowners of Australia. Selling of the products as an investment to ensure safe future will attract a lot of customers towards them, increasing the level of revenue for the marketers. It will appeal to the needs of the customers motivating them to purchase these products and install them in their houses.
As a second strategy, the marketers can solely focus on catering to the self-esteem needs of their prospective customers. They can emphasize the benefits of using home batteries and solar panels to the homeowners of the country. The marketers can also emphasize on how the customers will be playing a positive role in protecting their surrounding environment. It can be expressed in the marketing strategy that using the solar panels and home batteries can enable them to reduce the carbon footprint of their home electrical systems. The environment-friendly nature of these products can be marketed to these customers to increase the volume of sales of these products. This marketing strategy can help the marketers to attract more customers towards this equipment and encourage them to use them in their houses (Fallatah and Syed, 2018). The cost-efficiency and effectiveness of these systems should also be marketed among them. The marketers can say to these customers that they are doing a positive thing by purchasing this equipment. They are contributing to the environment of Australia by purchasing these products and installing them in their houses. If the consumers feel that they are contributing to a positive cause, it will increase their self-esteem. Thus this marketing strategy focuses on catering to the needs of self-esteem of the customers. As the self-esteem needs of the consumers will be fulfilled, they will be motivated to purchase these products and install them in their houses. It will ultimately increase the revenue of the marketers in the process of selling the solar panels and home batteries.
Consumer behavior theories and models
The third marketing strategy which can be employed by the marketers is the combination of both these strategies. This strategy will focus on catering to the safety as well as self-esteem needs of the prospective consumers of the products (Bang, Ellinger, Hadjimarcou and Traichal, 2000). The marketers should sell their product as an investment to these customers, to cater to their safety needs. The consumers should know the benefits of using these products and how they will ensure a safe future for them and their family. If the consumers knew that these products will ensure a safe present and future, they will be motivated to purchase them form the marketers. Fulfilling the needs of the safety of the consumers will allow the marketers to increase the overall sales of solar panels and home batteries to the homeowners of Australia. With the help of this strategy, the marketers can also focus on meeting the self-esteem needs of their prospective customers. The benefits of these products can be advertised to them with the help of this marketing strategy. The marketers can promote that purchasing of these products will allow the consumers to actively participate in something positive about the environment. As solar panels and home batteries will reduce the carbon footprint of the electricity of the houses, thus creating a positive environment in the surroundings. The marketers can make the consumers feel that they are doing the right thing in purchasing this equipment. Thus this strategy will help them to cater their self-esteem needs as well, thus further motivating them to purchase these products.
Conclusion
Out of these three marketing strategies, the third strategy is the most viable option for the marketers to employ. This strategy will help them to cater to the safety as well as self-esteem needs of their prospective customers. Thus this marketing strategy will increase the number of consumers as well as increase the volume of sales of these products. This strategy can also cater to consumers with either safety needs or self-esteem needs. This paper concludes that there are some factors which are preventing the use of solar panels and home batteries in Australia. It can be further concluded from this paper, that using Maslow’s theory, the marketers can increase the sales of this products among their prospective customers in the market.
References
Bang, H.K., Ellinger, A.E., Hadjimarcou, J. and Traichal, P.A., (2000). Consumer concern, knowledge, belief, and attitude toward renewable energy: An application of the reasoned action theory. Psychology & Marketing, 17(6), pp.449-468.
Fallatah, R.H.M., and Syed, J., (2018). A Critical Review of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In Employee Motivation in Saudi Arabia (pp. 19-59). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Gordon, R., Dibb, S., Magee, C., Cooper, P. and Waitt, G., (2018). Empirically testing the concept of value-in-behavior and its relevance for social marketing. Journal of Business Research, 82, pp.56-67.
Ha, H.Y. and Janda, S., (2012). Predicting consumer intentions to purchase energy-efficient products. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 29(7), pp.461-469.
Rani, P., (2014). Factors influencing consumer behavior. International journal of current research and academic review, 2(9), pp.52-61.