Expanding the theory of planned behavior to better predict energy conservation intentions in the workplace

Optimizing energy consumption in buildings is a global priority, and individuals' willingness to conserve energy plays a critical role in achieving this objective. While considerable research has examined energy-saving behaviors among university students, relatively few studies have focused on other university stakeholders, particularly faculty and staff. To address this gap, this study investigates the energy conservation intentions of university faculty and staff using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The original TPB model explained 30% of the variance in energy conservation intentions. By incorporating moral norm and intrinsic motivation, the model's explanatory power increased substantially, with the explained variance rising to 54%. In the extended model, all constructs except subjective norm were significantly associated with energy conservation intention. These findings provide new insights into the determinants of workplace energy conservation and offer practical guidance for managers, planners, and researchers seeking cost-effective strategies to reduce organizational energy consumption. They also underscore the need for universities to adopt context-specific approaches that foster energy-conservation behaviors among employees. Theoretically, this study demonstrates that, in subsidized energy contexts where direct financial incentives are limited, moral norm and intrinsic motivation substantially enhance the explanatory power of the TPB and explain additional variance in energy conservation intentions beyond that accounted for by subjective norm. Rather than suggesting that subjective norms are universally unimportant, the findings indicate that their influence may be contingent upon organizational and contextual conditions, thereby offering a more context-sensitive framework for understanding workplace energy conservation intentions in subsidized-energy contexts.