National Peculiarities of Russian Consumers' Perception of Energy-saving Technology

Wide introduction of energy-saving technology during the last decade has become a trend of the world economy. Russia is still suggestive in arrears compared to the world leaders in this field, although it is making intense efforts to reduce the energy intensity of its economy and domestic consumption. Manufacturers of energy-saving products, in their turn, try to maximize correspondent markets. An analysis of publications in Russian mass-media and results of various sociological studies have shown that reasons for the backlog include, strategic mistakes in the implementation of energy conservation policies, and erroneous positioning of energy-saving products on the Russian market, among others. Administrative pressure and pure economic reasoning provided by manufacturers of energysaving products do not find understanding among the people. As a result, the majority of households and a significant part of private businesses are involved poorly into energy saving processes. State agencies and equipment manufacturers should take established mentality of the vast majority of the population into account in order to implement their goals. Thus, energy-saving technologies should be posed not only as a more cost-saving replacement for traditional devices but also as a means of changing the quality of life, i.e. new use value (perceived value).