Urban Households’ Investment Behaviour Towards Home Appliances in India: Do Gender and Neighbourhood Effect Matter?

Abstract

This study assesses the influence of women’s bargaining power and the peer or neighbourhood effect on urban households’ investment behaviour towards home appliances, specifically refrigerators and air conditioners. The impact of women’s bargaining power has been demonstrated in different domains, including household expenditure/investment decisions, technology and clean fuel adoption, children’s education, and so on. Since women primarily operate household appliances, for example, refrigerators, we argue that the former could impact investment decisions related to appliances. Additionally, we study the neighbourhood effect as the acquisition and choice of appliances, vehicles, and new technologies and the reduction of household energy consumption heavily rely on information from the neighbours. This communication dynamic reduces perceived social and technological uncertainties related to the product. Therefore, we hypothesise that household appliance ownership accelerates when there is increased use in the neighbourhood. Analysis based on data from the Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS, 2005 & 2012) shows that women’s education and property ownership are positively related to refrigerator and air conditioner ownership. The neighbourhood effects on the same have also been found to be positive and significant. This study, in sum, provides new insights into the factors that influence urban households’ investment behaviour towards appliances, and in terms of policy implications, these findings could be useful in the promotion of energy-efficient home appliances as we are aiming for net zero emission in the decades to come.