The impact of public policy marketing, institutional narratives and discourses on renewable energy consumption in a developing economy
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
ISSN: 1355-5855
Article publication date: 27 August 2021
Issue publication date: 1 April 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy such as solar energy is difficult and requires significant ongoing public policy marketing initiatives. Drawing on institutional theory, this paper aims to explore how public policy marketing initiatives through institutional narratives and discourses legitimize solar energy's sustainable consumption in a developing economy.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a post-structuralist approach, the authors undertook a thematic analysis to study the process of sustainable consumption. The authors conducted face-to-face interviews with key stakeholders in the solar energy sector and complemented the primary data with secondary analysis of archived published materials and podcasts.
Findings
First, narratives on conformance rules and regulations (regulatory legitimacy) are significant sustainable consumption predictors of solar energy. However, the top-down regulatory legitimation narrative alone is insufficient to overcome poorly developed taken-for-granted (cognitive legitimacy) and morally correct consumption behavior (normative legitimacy), especially among the general population. Second, while consumption is primarily seen as a micro-level, residential and commercial customers phenomenon, the intersecting macro- (government) and meso-levels' (industry/market) narratives and discourses influence and direct micro-level consumption.
Originality/value
Future research agenda on legitimizing the sustainable consumption of solar energy needs to consider the dynamic interactions of institutional narratives and discourses through the lens of institutional theory and practice. Sustained, bold and provident government interventions and actions through market structure and policy issues play a crucial role in the consumption process, particularly in developing economies.
Keywords
Citation
Cheah, S.K.A. and Low, B. (2022), "The impact of public policy marketing, institutional narratives and discourses on renewable energy consumption in a developing economy", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 34 No. 5, pp. 944-962. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-11-2020-0835
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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