## 4 Results  
### Descriptive Statistics  
The research was based on 302 valid questionnaires. Considering the fact that the data were processed using the structural equation modeling technique (PLS-SEM), the minimum sample size can be considered adequate according to the \"10-times rule\" which assumes that the sample size should be greater than 10 times the maximum number of inner or outer model links pointing at any latent variable in the model [51; 52]. The structure of the sample is detailed in Table 1. Thus, 55.62% of the respondents register high incomes over 4000 lei per family member, among which 85.43% of them are graduates of a higher education institution. In terms of residence criteria, 55.30% of respondents live in apartments, and the rest in houses/villas, especially in urban areas (82.45%). In 88.76% of cases, the home is owned by the respondents. The average monthly electricity consumption (54.63% of total respondents) is in the range of 100-255 kWh. According to existing regulations in Romania, this consumption corresponds to an optimal price of electricity, and as for consumption exceeding the threshold of 255 kWh, tariff increases are generally applied. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Characteristics** & **N** & **\%** & **Valid \%** & **Cumulative \%** \\ \hline \multicolumn{5}{c}{**Gender**} \\ \hline Female & 174 & 57.616 & 57.616 & 57.616 \\ \hline Male & 128 & 42.384 & 42.384 & 100.000 \\ \hline Total & 302 & 100.000 & 100.000 & \\ \hline \multicolumn{5}{c}{**Level of study**} \\ \hline High school or post-secondary education & 44 & 14.570 & 14.570 & 14.570 \\ \hline Undergraduate study & 77 & 25.497 & 25.497 & 40.066 \\ \hline Master study & 77 & 25.497 & 25.497 & 65.563 \\ \hline PhD student or equivalent level & 104 & 34.437 & 34.437 & 100.000 \\ \hline Total & 302 & 100.000 & 100.000 & \\ \hline \multicolumn{5}{c}{**Occupation**} \\ \hline Student/master student/Phd student & 84 & 27.815 & 27.907 & 27.907 \\ \hline Employee & 190 & 62.914 & 63.123 & 91.030 \\ \hline Entrepreneur & 15 & 4.967 & 4.983 & 96.013 \\ \hline Freelancer & 4 & 1.325 & 1.329 & 97.342 \\ \hline Retired & 8 & 2.649 & 2.658 & 100.000 \\ \hline Total (no missing answers) & 301 & 99.669 & 100.000 & \\ \hline Missing answers & 1 & 0.3 & & \\ \hline Total & 302 & 100.0 & & \\ \hline \multicolumn{5}{c}{**Income**} \\ \hline Under 1000 lei & 10 & 3.311 & 3.311 & 3.311 \\ \hline
1000–2000 lei & 28 & 9.272 & 9.272 & 12.583 \\ \hline
2000–4000 lei & 96 & 31.788 & 31.788 & 44.371 \\ \hline Over 4000 lei & 168 & 55.629 & 55.629 & 100.000 \\ \hline Total & 302 & 100.000 & 100.000 & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Sample structure. The analysis of the sample structure also reveals a certain flexibility of the subjects in terms of decisions regarding the optimization of energy consumption; 20.20% of them changed their electricity supplier in the last year against the background of the development of the competitive market. The data collected confirms the existing situation in the market, indicating a significant increase in market shares for the market operators offering the lowest prices. For example, Hidroelectrica's turnover, one of the most important suppliers in Romania in this market segment, increased in the period 2020-2022 by approximately 140%, reaching approx. 1.86 billion euros [53]. Furthermore, 29.14% of the people surveyed have benefited in the last year from subsidizing the price of electricity and 13.25% from subsidies for the purchase of EESS technologies (Table 1). These last indicators reveal a relatively high interest of consumers in the direction of attracting nonrefundable funds for the efficiency of energy consumption.