Characterising the effect of model dormitory on energy-saving intention of college students through the lens of reference points

The demonstration of an energy-conservation model is an important way to increase the energy-saving intention (ESI) of college students. However, the psychological mechanism underlying the effectiveness of such an approach remains unclear, hindering its implementation. This study innovatively elucidates this psychological mechanism from the perspective of reference point (RP). In this study, 125 college students from Xi'an, China, were studied using eye-tracking and a questionnaire with the aim of elucidating the excitation level of RP under the stimulation of different types of energy-saving model dormitories and the corresponding variation in college students' ESI. The relationship between the excitation of the RP and the ESI was then determined using multiple linear regression analysis. Eye-tracking was applied with the aim of measuring the excitation level of the RP, whereas the questionnaire was used to measure the variation in the college students' ESI. The following conclusions were found in this study: (1) Under the stimulation of the energy-saving model dormitory, different RPs were excited to varying degrees. Among the RPs, the group-RP and the negative RP had higher excitation levels; (2) Different types of energy-saving model dormitories affected the ESIs differently. Among the model dormitories, students in the positive low-intensity group exhibited the greatest improvement in ESI; (3) Compared to the group-RP, the excitation of the self-RP had a greater impact on the variation of the college students' ESI, while the pair of 'positive-negative' RPs had a smaller impact. The results of the study can help school administrators to effectively develop energy-saving intervention strategies to reduce energy consumption in dormitory buildings.