Fondazione GRINS
Growing Resilient,
Inclusive and Sustainable
Galleria Ugo Bassi 1, 40121, Bologna, IT
C.F/P.IVA 91451720378
Finanziato dal Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR), Missione 4 (Infrastruttura e ricerca), Componente 2 (Dalla Ricerca all’Impresa), Investimento 1.3 (Partnership Estese), Tematica 9 (Sostenibilità economica e finanziaria di sistemi e territori).
Open Access
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This paper explores Italian households’ environmental attitudes and awareness, focusing on the role of demographic and socioeconomic factors, using data from the October 2024 wave of the Italian Survey of Consumer Expectations (ISCE). We find that awareness of energy efficiency policies is unevenly distributed among the population with renters, women, and Southern residents being less informed. Access to financial incentives, such as the Superbonus and Ecobonus schemes, favours higher-income households in Northern Italy and is influenced by both private advice and public information campaigns. Support for renovation policies is linked to prior participation in these schemes, and economic motives largely drive renovation decisions, while environmental concerns remain secondary. Financial incentives appeal more to affluent groups. These findings highlight the need for more targeted outreach and equitable policy design to strengthen the link between climate awareness and households’ behaviour.
Keywords: Energy efficiency, Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, Superbonus, Environmental awareness, Italian Survey of Consumer Expectations.
JEL Classification: Q40, D10, C25
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AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study was funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU, in the framework of the GRINS - Growing Resilient, INclusive and Sustainable project (GRINS PE00000018). The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union, nor can the European Union be held responsible for them.
We are grateful to Lorenzo Forni, Tullio Jappelli and Stefania Tomasini for their feedback on the setup of the special section’s questionnaire. We also thank Francesco Giovanardi, Lorenzo Prosperi and Sedric Zucchiatti for useful comments. We acknowledge funding from the European Commission, Next Generation EU, Project “GRINS - Growing Resilient, INclusive and Sustainable”, id code MUR PE00000018, CUP B33D22001700006. We declare that we have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper and that the opinions expressed herein are our own and do not necessarily reflect those of the affiliated institutions. All remaining errors are our own.
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