Please use Means-ends analysis method to understand how consumers perceive market products and how these market products are embedded in the consumer's target hierarchy.

(Means-Ends analysis include attribute, consequence and value)

this is the interview transcript 1:

Interviewee 1

Current DER status:

• Rooftop solar panels: no
• Household battery: no

Key distinctions identified by interviewee

• Solar panels and batteries are costly
• Supply 'green' power to the grid
• Reduce community blackouts

Q: When we were speaking earlier, you indicated that one of the key distinctions was that solar panels and batteries are costly. What is the importance of that?

A: I don't have solar panels and I don't have a battery, which means I'm gonna have to pay much more than someone who already has solar panels. Now the things is, when I hear these things getting talked about in the media, one of the first things people say is that they're expensive. Well, maybe not solar panels as much, 'cos they're supposed to pay themselves off pretty quickly. But batteries? They're still pretty dear. Now, I get that batteries have a whole range of benefits, and I'm guessing we'll be talking about some of them in a few minutes time, but at the end of the day, you can't avoid the fact that they're expensive.

Q: And what is the significance of this to you?

A: There's a fancy term to describe this. It's...what's the phrase? An opportunity cost. So, I decide to spend however many thousand on getting solar panels and a battery, and that's fine and all, but it also means that I can't use that money to buy other things I might want. I mean, it's not like I have a heap of money lying around that I can throw at all these things, right?

Q: This issue of making it harder to spend on other things. What's the relevance of that for you?

A: Couple of things, I suppose. For one, it just limits my freedom to do what I want. Suppose I need to do something else around the house, or my car breaks down or something. If I've spent that money getting solar panels and a battery, I'd find it so much harder to deal with those things. I'd have to get help from someone, or take a loan, and I hate doing that. Makes me feel so, I don't know, dependent. The second thing is that my partner and I have been saving up for a trip overseas for ages! We've obviously not been able to do anything for the last couple of years, what with COVID and all, and so we're just absolutely dying to spend some time lying on a beach somewhere warm, taking in the sights, going out for dinner, all that lovely stuff. The problem, I guess, is that we wouldn't be able to do that if we ended up buying solar panels and a battery.

Q: Thanks for that. Another key distinction you mentioned earlier was supplying green power back to the grid. Can you explain why this is important?

A: Sure! This might sound kinda funny given that I was just talking about wanting to fly overseas but I'm really concerned about Australia's carbon emissions, you know? We have all this coal, all this natural gas that we use to make power, which is doing terrible things for the environment. Now, correct me if I've got this wrong but if you have a solar panel/battery combo and then sign up to an aggregation service, you're able to supply the grid with green power, even when other renewables aren't producing power, right?

Q: Yes, that's correct.

A: Great. So, effectively, whenever your battery supplies power to the grid, you're reducing the need for those big old power stations that spew out carbon emissions. And that's pretty amazing, am I right? Just by joining one of these aggregators, you and a bunch of people like you are able to help reduce Australia's carbon emissions. Pretty powerful stuff! Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to drop that pun on you. Oops (laughs).

Q: So why is reducing carbon emissions important to you?

A: I think we have a duty to protect our environment, and reducing our carbon emissions is pretty fundamental to achieving that. But there's another thing, I suppose. If we don't reduce our carbon emissions, the world is going to become a pretty scary place. Or at least, scarier than it is already. You know, there will be more floods, more bushfires, the seas will rise... It doesn't take long before it all starts to sound pretty apocalyptic. So, reducing our carbon emissions is also, I think, important for keeping our community safe.

Q: And why is it important that the community is kept safe?

A: That's pretty obvious, right? If we don't keep our communities safe, we don't have that sense of order and stability that I think we all, I dunno, almost take for granted.

Q: Thanks. Finally, I wanted to return to the last of the key distinctions you mentioned: reducing community blackouts. Why is that important to you?

A: I'm not sure where you live but up here in the Hume region, whenever there's a power blackout, it's like everything grinds to a halt. The traffic lights go out, the local shops can't operate, the schools can't function... You can't even pump petrol from the service station because all the pumps run on power! And unfortunately, blackouts happen pretty regularly, just because of all the trees we have in the area. The wind knocks em' down and takes the power lines out. So, if we can reduce or minimise the number of blackouts we have in the community, we end up making the community safer, you know? The traffic lights work, the petrol pumps work, the schools can operate, all those little things.

Q: And why is it important that we keep the community safe?

A: Again with the funny questions (laughs). Well, it's like I was saying before: our communities flourish when they're stable and predictable. When people can wake up in the morning and have a pretty good idea of what the day will hold.

Q: Wonderful. And that brings us to the end of the interview. Thanks for your time today.