Towards large scale solar panel adoption: understanding the role of context-specific reasons

Purpose – Despite increasing environmental awareness and a preference for eco-friendly products, adoption of renewable energy technologies remains low. The purpose of this study is to advance the behavioural reasoning theory (BRT) by examining how personal values and context-specific “reasons for” and “reasons against” influence solar panel purchase intentions in Ghana. It tests the mediating roles of all three global motives: attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data from 425 homeowners in Ghana through an online survey using purposive sampling. Data was analysed using a two-stage structural equation modelling approach. Findings – The results suggested that openness to change positively influenced purchase intention (β = 0.08, p = 0.04), supporting H1a. Reasons for purchase influenced purchase intention (β = 0.47, p < 0.001), supporting H2a. However, reasons against purchase did not directly affect purchase intention (β = 0.02, p = 0.87), rejecting H3a. Mediation analysis revealed that attitude partially mediated the relationship between openness to change and purchase intention, with a significant indirect effect (β = 0.21, p < 0.01). Subjective norms and perceived behavioural control also acted as partial mediators, yielding significant indirect effects of β = 0.05 (p < 0.05) and β = 0.06 (p < 0.05), respectively. Originality/value – This study is among a few to explore the distinct effects of global motive dimensions in the BRT framework, including attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. It offers a fresh perspective on the factors influencing solar panel adoption.