Energy Conservation Behaviour and Sufficiency among University Hostel Students: An exploratory study

Persistent electricity shortages, increasing energy demand, and infrastructural limitations continue to undermine energy sufficiency in Nigerian public universities, especially, student residential facilities. While prior studies have explored energy efficiency and sustainable campus initiatives, limited empirical attention has been given to how students’ everyday energy-use behaviours shape energy sufficiency in resource-constrained higher education contexts. This study therefore investigated the behavioural dimensions of students’ energy use in university hostels, focusing on the effects of psychological, socio-economic, and contextual determinants on energy conservation behaviour, as well as the mediating role of such behaviour in achieving energy sufficiency. Adopting a quantitative cross-sectional design grounded in the Theory of Planned Behaviour, data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to undergraduate students residing in hostels at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. Of the 377 questionnaires distributed, 211 valid responses were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. The findings show that the explanatory variables collectively explain a substantial proportion of variance in energy conservation behaviour (R² = 0.491). Socio-economic factors exerted a strong and statistically significant positive influence on students’ energy conservation behaviour, whereas internal psychological and contextual factors were not significant predictors. Gender significantly influenced energy conservation behaviour, while age did not. Energy conservation behaviour was found to have a positive and significant effect on energy sufficiency, although the level of explained variance in energy sufficiency was relatively modest (R² = 0.095). Mediation analysis further revealed that energy conservation behaviour does not significantly mediate the relationships between the determinants and energy sufficiency. The study concludes that students’ energy conservation behaviour contributes directly to improved energy sufficiency in university hostels, but such behaviour is shaped primarily by socioeconomic conditions rather than psychological or contextual influences. Consequently, the study recommends that university energy management policies should prioritise socio-economic interventions that includes accountability mechanisms, pricing signals, and effective metering alongside behavioural awareness programmes to enhance energy sufficiency within the university.