The role of knowledge about water consumption in the context of intentions to use IoT water metrics

Abstract

Technological progress can contribute to a more conscious and sustainable consumption of water. This is especially important in the context of dwindling resources and climate change. The objective of the study is to investigate how consumers’ perceived knowledge on water usage influences their intention to adopt smart (IoT-based) water meters, which deliver very precise data on the amount of water used in a household. We hypothesized that perceived knowledge on personal water usage exerts a direct and indirect influence on the intention to adopt a smart water meter. For the mediators, we used the intention to save water and variables derived from Value-Belief-Norm theory: awareness of consequences, ascription of responsibility and personal norm. We verified the hypotheses by applying structural equation modelling to a sample of 532 respondents. We found that perceived knowledge on water usage directly influences the intention to adopt a smart water meter, and that all considered variables worked to mediate the relationship between perceived knowledge and intention. Thus, based on our results perceived knowledge plays an important role on the relationship between values-beliefs-norms and intentions to apply smart water meters, which can be used for future research in order to reduce household water consumption by increasing the probability of installing smart water meters.