Relating knowledge and perceptions of sustainable water management to preferences for smart irrigation technology

Dong Hee Suh, Hayk Khachatryan, Alicia Rihn, Michael Dukes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Water quantity and quality concerns in urban environments have prompted conservation groups, governmental agencies, and policy makers to develop and promote residential water conservation programs, including restrictions on residential landscape irrigation practices and incentives for the adoption of water-efficient appliances. Previous literature links household characteristics, financial incentives, and demographic characteristics to the adoption of water-efficient appliances and overall water use. However, relatively little attention has been given toward understanding how homeowners' perceptions and knowledge of smart irrigation technologies affect their preferences or stated purchase likelihood of such irrigation equipment. To address this gap in the literature, this paper identifies perception- and knowledge-related factors that are correlated with the purchase likelihood of smart irrigation controllers. The generalized logit regression model results suggest that knowledge about irrigation systems and residential landscaping are positively correlated with purchase likelihood. Similarly, homeowners' perceptions about conservation efforts, water restrictions, and their neighbors' irrigation habits all increase purchase likelihood. Combined with statistically-significant correlations of several socio-demographic variables and purchase likelihood, these results have theoretical and practical implications, which are summarized in this paper.

Original languageEnglish
Article number607
JournalSustainability (Switzerland)
Volume9
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017 Apr 14

Keywords

  • Landscape irrigation
  • Landscape management
  • Urban landscaping
  • Water conservation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

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