  Demand-side response programs which also called Demand Response (DR) are
interesting ways to attract consumers' participation in order to improve
electric consumption patterns. DR programs motivate customers to change
consumption patterns in response to price changes. This could be done by paying
incentives or considering penalties either when wholesale market prices are
high or when network reliability is at risk. The overall purpose of
implementing DR programs is to improve reliability of the networks, while
reducing the operation costs. Successful implementation of these DR programs
requires prerequisites, which without them, there is no guarantee of success.
Different disciplines have provided various scientific solutions for creating
optimal power consumption behavior in customers (such as utilizing intelligent
home appliances and big data techniques). Although each of these solutions
might be efficient and effective, they could not cover all the aspects of the
solutions. The results of studies conducted by many researchers show that in
addition to the technical and economic issues, social, cultural, and behavioral
factors are of great importance in DR implementation. Therefore, in this paper,
these aspects, as one of the vital requirements for better implementation of
DR, are investigated and analyzed in detail.
