A Study on Residential Mobility and the Purchasing Behavior of Household Energy-Saving Appliances——Taking Solar Water Heaters as an Example

In recent years, the installation rate of solar water heaters (SWHs) in Chinese urban areas has decreased significantly, which undermines energy conservation and emission reduction goals. Based on data from the 2015 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), this study examines the effect of residential mobility on household SWH purchasing behavior. Our findings show that residential mobility had an inhibitory effect on household SWH purchasing. Higher household moving frequency was associated with a lower probability of purchasing SWHs. We also found that stable economic and social relations could moderate the adverse effects of residential mobility and significantly increase the probability of purchasing SWHs for 'floating households' (households that changed their place of residence). In China, where the floating household proportion is increasing, our research findings provide a new explanation for the decreasing installation rate of SWHs in urban areas. The analysis framework used in this paper can be applied to the study of purchasing decisions for other types of energy-saving appliances in floating households