ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews different models of individual decision making from across the social sciences. In an applied field such as energy and environment, theoretical approaches to decision making have two main roles. The first is to help explain behaviour and identify important behavioural drivers for interventions to target. The second is to provide a framework for empirical research on the impact of these interventions. Energy efficiency provides an interesting empirical context for considering individual decision making and behaviour owing to the persistence of a gap between technological and economic potential, and actual market behaviour. Microeconomic theories of consumer choice are based on the assumption that individuals seek to maximize utility given budget constraints. Utility theory and rational choice provide the building blocks for a broad range of economic theory and practice.
