“强关系”还是“弱关系”——社会互动对中国城市家庭节能行为的影响路径分析

“Strong Ties”v.s.“Weak Ties”--Research on the Path of Social Interaction on Chinese Urban Resident's Household Energy-Saving Behaviors

如何有效降低家庭能源消耗一直以来都是各国关注的焦点。除经济激励措施之外,社会干预措施越来越受到关注。在社会互动中,究竟是充当信息桥的“弱关系”,还是作为人情网的“强关系”更能推动家庭节能行为开始成为学者们关注的议题。本文基于“弱关系假设”、“强关系假设”以及嵌入性视角,采用抽样调查数据并通过结构方程模型验证,就社会互动影响中国城市家庭节能行为的作用机制展开实证分析。通过直接模型和中介模型两阶段检验,初步得出以下结论:(1)社会互动显著推动了中国城市的家庭节能行为;(2)相比于“强关系”而言,“弱关系”更能促进中国城市家庭节能行为;(3)节能知识的提升对于当前阶段中国城市家庭节能行为产生了重要推动作用。研究结论说明,充当“信息桥”的“弱关系”可以通过节能知识的扩散和传播推动中国城市家庭节能行为。该结论既验证了“弱关系假设”在家庭节能行为领域的适用性,也印证了“强关系假设”的适用边界。

How to effectively reduce household energy consumption has always been the focus of attention in all countries.In addition to economic incentives,social interventions have received increasing attention from scholars.In social interactions,whether the Weak Ties that acts as an information bridge or the Strong Ties as a relationship network can better promote household energy-saving behaviors has become a topic of concern for scholars.Based on the Weak Ties Hypothesis,Strong Ties Hypothesis and embeddedness perspective,this paper uses sample survey data and verification through structural equation models to conduct an empirical analysis on the mechanism of social interaction affecting the energy conservation behavior of Chinese urban households.Through the two-stage test of the direct model and the intermediary model,the following conclusions are drawn:1)Social interaction significantly promotes Chinese urban resident’s household energy saving behaviors;2)Compared with Strong Ties,Weak Ties can promote Chinese urban resident’s household energy saving behaviors;3)The improvement of energy conservation knowledge has played an important role in promoting Chinese urban resident’s household energy saving behaviors.The research conclusions show that the“weak ties”acting as the Information Bridge can promote Chinese urban resident’s household energy saving behaviors through the diffusion and dissemination of energy saving knowledge.This conclusion not only verifies the applicability of the Weak Ties Hypothesis in the field of household energy-saving behaviors,but also further confirms the applicable boundary of the Strong Ties Hypothesis.