15. Actor and Network Analysis

To uncover social influence in personal networks on how to set up the heating system, heating behaviour and advice on saving energy, as well as the influence of a household’s peer group in terms of norms and status, a mixed-methods social network analysis was conducted in the City of Bottrop, Germany. In order to analyse a household’s embeddedness in social networks, interviews were conducted with around 23 households. Personal relations (friends, neighbours, relatives and peer groups) and relations to actors in the value chain of heating/space heating (i.e. craftspeople, manufacturers) were analysed. Results indicate that contacts with family and friends play a major role and that consulting agencies and consumer advice centres influence investment decisions on insulation, for example, to a great extent—due to the highly developed infrastructure of consulting in InnovationCity Ruhr—Bottrop. The consulting organisations established therein apparently function well and it shows that advice is also further diffused through ego-networks.