The Associations of Young Poles with Green Energy in the Context of Self-Assessment of Their Relevant Knowledge and the Importance Attached to the Energy Sources Used

Abstract

The aim of this article is to identify the associations that young Polish recipients have with green energy, considering their self-assessment of the level of knowledge about green energy and the importance attributed to the energy sources they use on a daily basis. An analysis of the world literature on the subject indicates that there is a cognitive and research gap in the level of market awareness of individual recipients regarding green energy and its sources. This issue has been neglected even more among young people in the context of their associations with this type of energy. To eliminate these research gaps, five hypotheses were formulated. To this end, primary research was carried out using the survey method to collect data. The research covered 311 individual representatives of recipients in Poland aged between 18 and 24. The primary data collected was subjected to quantitative analysis, using specific tests and statistical analysis. Among other things, the following was discovered: (1) the dependence between the self-assessment of the level of knowledge about green energy and the importance attributed to the sources of energy used; (2) the dependence between the self-assessment of the level of knowledge about green energy and the associations with it (mainly negative ones); (3) the dependence between the importance assigned to the sources of energy used and the associations with green energy (mainly positive ones); and (4) that there were sets of recipients characterized by identical associations with green energy within the groups of people selected among the total respondents and among respondents assessing their level of knowledge as low or high, as well as among respondents attributing high or low importance to energy sources. The research results and the conclusions drawn have significant cognitive value and practical application.