Social Media Information Quality and Household Solar Energy Adoption Intention: The Moderating Role of Renewable Energy Literacy

Social media has become an important source of information on renewable energy, influencing consumers' decisions regarding sustainable technologies. However, limited research has examined how the quality of social media information affects household solar energy adoption intention, particularly in developing countries. Drawing on the Information Adoption Model (IAM) and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), this study investigates the effect of social media information quality on household solar energy adoption intention and the moderating role of energy literacy. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 400 household electricity consumers in Pakistan using convenience sampling, and data were collected electronically through a structured Google Forms questionnaire. The proposed model was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that social media information quality positively and significantly influences household solar energy adoption intention. Moreover, energy literacy significantly strengthens this relationship, suggesting that individuals with higher energy literacy are better able to utilize high-quality renewable energy information when making adoption decisions. The study extends IAM and ELM within the context of environmental and science communication and provides practical insights for policymakers and renewable energy stakeholders to enhance public energy literacy and improve the quality of renewable energy information disseminated through social media. Keywords: Social media information quality; Household solar energy adoption intention; Energy literacy; Renewable energy communication; Environmental communication; Science communication