Going Beyond Best Technology and Lowest Price : On Renewable Energy Investors' Preference for Service-driven Business Models
Journal
Energy Policy
ISSN
0301-4215
ISSN-Digital
1873-6777
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2012-01
Author(s)
Abstract
Renewable energy is becoming increasingly important for economies in many countries. But still in an emerging industry, renewable energy requires supportive energy policy helping firms to develop and protect competitive advantages in global competition. As a guideline for designing such policy, we consult well-informed stakeholders within the renewable energy industry: investors. Their preferences serve as explorative indicator for assessing which business models might succeed in competition. To contribute to only limited research on renewable energy investors' preferences, we ask, which business models investment managers for renewable energy prefer to invest in. We report from an explorative study of 380 choices of renewable energy investment managers. Based on the stated preferences, we modelled three generic business models to calculate the share of investors' preferences. We find exiting evidence: a "customer intimacy" business model that proposes best services is much more preferred by investors than business models that propose lowest price or best technology. Policy-makers can use those insights for designing policy that supports service-driven business models for renewable energy with a scope on customer needs rather than technology or price. Additionally, we state important implications for renewable energy entrepreneurs, managers and research.
Language
English
Keywords
Renewable energy
Business models
Investors' preferences
HSG Classification
not classified
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Elsevier
Publisher place
Amsterdam
Volume
40
Number
3
Start page
21
End page
27
Pages
7
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
70173