Abstract

To create successful energy interventions that motivate young people to save energy, it is crucial to understand the context of their energy use behaviours. This paper sheds light on similarities and differences in British and German students' use of energy, attitudes, motivations, and appropriate design suggestions concerning technology-led interventions that aim to foster sustainable energy consumption and behavioural change. Results suggest that students' current use of energy, barriers to energy saving, as well as design requirements for such an intervention resemble each other in both countries. However, British and German students differ significantly in their general attitudes towards saving energy, their willingness to save energy and their knowledge about how to save energy. These findings should be taken into account when designing energy interventions in the UK and in Germany, and more generally, highlight the importance of cross-cultural differences when designing such interventions.