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Cultural values and energy-saving attitude-intention-behavior linkages among urban residents: a serial multiple mediation analysis based on stimulus-organism-response model
Abstract
Purpose
Based on stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theory and a serial multiple mediation model, this study aims to examine the relationships between cultural values and energy-saving behaviors as well as the mediation mechanisms of attitudes towards energy-saving and energy-saving intentions underlying these links.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 1,514 urban residents collected in five big cities in Vietnam and Structural Equation Modeling were employed to test the hypothesized model.
Findings
The study yields that energy-saving behaviors can be directly influenced by long-term orientation, but not by collectivism, while both collectivism and long-term orientation work as stimulus which immediately inspire attitude towards energy-savings and energy-saving intentions. Interestingly, attitudes towards energy-saving and energy-saving intentions not only serve as the most crucial predictors of entrepreneurial behaviors but also cooperate a serial mediation role in the impacts of cultural values on energy-saving behaviors.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this research can be valuable for policymakers to inspire urban residents’ energy conservation behavior for sustainable development goals.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the pro-environment literature by adopting the S-O-R theory to investigate the impacts of cultural values on the energy-saving attitude-intention-behavior relationships, explain the underlying mediation mechanism of energy-saving attitudes and intentions in transferring the influences of cultural values on energy-saving behaviors, and bridge the attitude-intention-behavior gap in the energy-saving research.
... The current energy demand has exceeded the domestic supply. Thus, the Vietnam government identified economical and efficient energy consumption as an important way to protect the environment and develop the national economy sustainably [70]. Based on these facts, examining the energy-saving behaviours of Vietnamese residents is meaningful. ...
This study integrated the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), the norm activation model (NAM), and the stimulus–organism–behaviour–consequences theory (SOBC) to determine how external (subjective injunctive norm, subjective descriptive norm, and perceived behavioural control) and internal stimuli (ascription of responsibility, awareness of consequences) stimulate organisms (attitude towards energy saving and personal norms), which in turn drives behavioural responses (energy-saving intentions and behaviours) and their consequences (energy-saving habits). A sample of 1514 residents of five large cities in Vietnam and a multiple linear regression analysis were used to test the hypothesised model. The results show that external stimuli positively shaped a favourable energy-saving attitude, while internal stimuli aroused individuals’ personal norms. In addition, energy-saving intention, behaviours, and habits were serial mediators impacted by both internal and external stimuli. The results also indicate that a long-term orientation positively moderated the relationship between energy-saving intention, behaviours, and habits, but collectivism only moderated the nexus between energy-saving behaviours and habits. These findings imply that policymakers should focus on conveying information related to energy conservation among surrounding people, increasing citizens’ awareness of the consequences, personal responsibilities, moral obligations regarding saving energy, and should not neglect the informative role of cultural values in energy conservation practices.
Purpose
In marketing, most research on intention–behavior consistency (IBC) is dedicated to improving the predictive ability of stated intentions for future behaviors, with relatively less exploration into the precursors of IBC, especially those linked to regular durable goods void of ethical consumption characteristics. This study aims to focus on the antecedents of IBC for such products, specifically examining category-level and product-level IBC in light of consumer knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a two-round survey to collect 3,560 Chinese consumers' vehicle purchase intentions and behaviors. The authors have also leveraged a large vehicle database (containing detailed vehicle attribute information) to measure consumer product knowledge (i.e. product judgment accuracy). A trivariate probit model was proposed to account for the potential selection bias arising from sample attrition while examining the effects of consumer knowledge on category- and product-level intention-behavior consistency.
Findings
Findings reveal that 47% of the participants displayed category-level IBC, and within this group, a further 39% exhibited product-level IBC. Notably, product knowledge, manifested as accurate product judgment, correlates negatively with category-level IBC but positively with product-level IBC. Intriguingly, the negative association between inaccurate judgment and product-level IBC is less pronounced for consumers overestimating the target product than for those underestimating it. Furthermore, consumers with direct experience are less prone to show category-level IBC, but are more inclined to display product-level IBC.
Practical implications
Vehicle marketers should prioritize consumers who show interest in their products but possess inaccurate knowledge, to retain whom companies can nurture their product knowledge. As for consumers with accurate knowledge, companies should try to expedite their purchase. Vehicle marketers also need to devise suitable advertising strategies to prevent consumers from undervaluing their products. For those overestimating competitors' products, companies can provide information to correct their overestimation and draw attention to possible confirmation biases. Vehicle marketers should encourage potential buyers who have shown interest in their product to participate in test-drive events, exhibitions, and other direct experience opportunities. Yet, for consumers still in the “whether-to-buy” decision-making phase, companies should not rush them into a test drive.
Social implications
In the policy-making realm, governmental administrators can implement extensive consumer education programs, with a focus on the importance of product knowledge. This may involve providing consumers with accurate information and buying guides through various channels, which can help consumers make informed purchase decisions. Moreover, to foster healthy competition among vehicle companies, governmental administrators can establish regulations that require vehicle companies and other relevant industries to provide accurate and transparent product information, including performance, safety, and environmental aspects. Finally, in order to protect consumer rights, governmental administrators can also strengthen regulations to ensure fair treatment and safeguards for consumers throughout the purchasing process. This includes cracking down on false advertising and fraudulent practices, maintaining market order, and enhancing consumer confidence and purchase consistency.
Originality/value
This study is among the first attempts to examine the relationship between consumer knowledge and intention-behavior consistency, especially for regular durable products void of ethical consumption characteristics. Responding to the call of previous literature (e.g. Morwitz, 1997), the authors distinguish between and examine two forms of intention-behavior consistency simultaneously (using a sample selection model) and obtain more reliable conclusions. Moreover, the study's large-scale two-round survey had obtained individual-level purchase behavioral outcomes, which allowed the authors to measure each consumer's IBC at both category and product levels. More importantly, the authors show the opposite effects of consumer knowledge on the two forms of intention-behavior consistency.
Purpose
This study aims to determine the impact of attitude toward content creators, subjective norm and perceived content quality in affecting people’s intention and behavior to watch videos posted on YouTube in Indonesia.
Design/methodology/approach
Using questionnaire, data from the total of 112 individuals living in Indonesia were gathered in this study, and these respondents are individuals who have been watching YouTube contents at least 3 h a day for the past eight months. Moreover, all of these data were processed and analyzed using PLS method to determine the impact given by one variable toward the other.
Findings
Based on the results of the analysis, the authors concluded that both factors, namely, content credibility and perceived content quality, play significant and positive roles in determining people’s intention to watch – and ultimately behavior to watch – contents or videos published on YouTube, with the former turned out to be the stronger predictor.
Originality/value
The current study attempts to modify and merge both the concept of theory of reasoned action and product quality theory to explain Indonesians’ behavior toward watching contents published on YouTube, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this type of studies is still in rarity.
Purpose
The paper investigates the production inefficiency of US electricity industry in the wake of restructuring and emission reduction regulations.
Design/methodology/approach
The study estimates a multiple-input, multiple-output directional distance function, using six inputs: fuel, labor, capital and annualized capital costs of sulfur dioxide (SO 2) , nitrogen oxides (NO X ) and particulate removal devices, two good outputs – residential and industrial-commercial electricity and three bad outputs – SO 2 , carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and NO X emissions.
Findings
The authors find that restructuring in electricity markets tends to improve the technical efficiency (TE) of deregulated utilities. Deregulated utilities with below average NO X control equipment tend to invest less on these devices, but above-average utilities do the opposite. The reverse applies to particulate removal devices. The whole sample spends more on NO X , particulate and SO 2 control systems and reduces its electricity sales slightly. Increased investments in SO 2 and NO X control equipment do not reduce SO 2 and NO X emissions, but expansions of particulate control systems cut down SO 2 emissions greatly. Stricter environmental regulations have probably shifted the production frontier inwards and the utilities farther from the frontier over time.
Practical implications
Restructuring and environmental regulations do not make all utilities invest more in emission control systems. The US government should devise other schemes to achieve this goal.
Originality/value
The paper unveils heterogeneous reactions of US electric utilities in the wake of restructuring and emission regulations.
Purpose
The outbreak and the spreading of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the global financial sector, including the alternative clean and renewable energy sector This paper aims to assess the impact of the pandemic, COVID-19 on the stock market indices of the clean energy sector using quantile regression methods.
Design/methodology/approach
This study utilized daily data sets on the four major categories of stocks: (1) Morgan Stanley Capital International Global Alternative Energy Index, (2) WilderHill Clean Energy Index, (3) Renewable Energy Industrial Index (RENIXX) and (4) the S&P 500 Global Clean Index. The study adopts a multifactor capital asset pricing model.
Findings
The clean and alternative energy stocks are significant instruments for diversification. However, the impact of the volatility index induced by infectious disease is negative and significant across quantiles.
Practical implications
For investors and policymakers, considering how uncertainty caused by COVID-19 and geopolitical index influences renewable energy markets is of great practical importance. For investors, it throws insights on portfolio diversification. For policy makers, it helps to devise strategies to reboot the economy along the lines of deployment of renewables. This study sheds light on a global green-energy transition and has practical implications for renewable energy resilience in post-pandemic times.
Originality/value
This paper can be considered as a pioneer that explores the nexus between oil prices, interest rates, volatility index, geopolitical risk upon the stock indices of clean and alternative sources of (renewable) energy in the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The results have important insights in the area of energy and policy decision-making. Additionally, the novelty of the paper lies in the use of the explanatory variables, which is associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Countries that encourage pro-environmental behaviors to safeguard their citizens' health and safety contribute positively towards safeguarding nature and the environment. Therefore, investigating the motivators and triggering factors of people's pro-environmental behaviors is of utmost importance for scholars. Thus, grounded on the bio-spheric value orientation theory, the impact of various cultural values, including collectivism, femininity uncertainty avoidance, and future orientation on the citizens' pro-environmental behavior, has been examined in the current study. Additionally, the moderating role of citizens' trust has also been examined to check the enhanced effect of cultural values on pro-environmental behavior. Surveying 576 citizens of Palangka Raya Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, at two different times with six months gap, results showed that collectivism, femininity uncertainty avoidance, and future orientation positively and significantly influence pro-environmental behavior. Furthermore, citizens' trust moderates these associations while depicting that more citizens' trust results in stronger cultural values associations with pro-environmental behavior. Overall, this study is incremental in exploring the interactive effect of citizens' trust with various cultural values to enhance pro-environmental behavior among citizens of Palangka Raya city, Indonesia. Besides, research brings multiple theoretical, managerial, and future research implications.
The relationship between social norms and pro-environmental consumer behavior is well established, but what moderates this norm-sustainability relationship is much less clear. Previous studies reported inconclusive results regarding the effects of culture. This paper aims to shed light on the reported discrepancies by conducting an in-depth investigation on the effect of two central cultural dimensions, individualism, and collectivism, both on a macro (national culture) and a micro (individual self-construal) level. Specifically, the normative influence on pro-environmental behavioral intentions is analyzed for two different countries, the US and China, and insights are provided into the importance of descriptive and injunctive normative appeals in relation to the activated self-construal level. The quantitative results confirm that injunctive and descriptive normative appeals are stronger motivators of pro-environmental behavioral intentions in collectivistic (e.g., China) than in individualistic (e.g., the US) cultures. To clarify the discrepancies in previous research on norm-sustainability, how the effect of injunctive and descriptive normative appeals changes depending on the activated selfconstrual level in different cultures is demonstrated. The findings from this study are important from a theoretical perspective in that they improve the understanding of the effects of social norms on pro-environmental behavior. From a managerial perspective, it is demonstrated how individualism and collectivism on the one hand, and selfconstrual on the other hand, separately and in combination, can strengthen the effect of normative appeals on pro-environmental behavioral intentions. In conclusion, the study also identifies some promising new research avenues.
Research background: Even though antecedents of green consumption have already been considered in numerous scientific articles, their findings still remain inconsistent. Furthermore, far less attention has been paid to understanding the underlying mechanism of cultural values, including collectivism and long-term orientation, and perceived environmental knowledge influencing intention to purchase environmentally friendly products, as well as the meditating role of green purchase willingness in the linkages between antecedents and green purchase intention. In addition, some previous studies suggested that it might be meaningful and significant to explore these linkages in the cross-cultural context with different levels of economic development. Purpose of the article: This study explored the effects of cultural dimension, perceived environmental and green purchase willingness with regard to intention to purchase environmentally friendly products of Vietnamese and Polish customers. Moreover, the mediating role of green purchase willingness was also investigated in this study. Methods: To achieve the objectives of this research, customer surveys were conducted in two developing countries ? Vietnam and Poland. Two convenience samples of 611 Vietnamese consumers and 301 Polish consumers have been recruited from 03 May to 03 October 2020. The structural equation modelling (SEM) was utilized to examine the conceptual framework and test the proposed hypotheses. Findings & value added: The research revealed that green purchase willingness became the most influential factor to predict green purchase intention in both cultures. Also, perceived environmental knowledge was found to have substantial effects on willingness and intention to purchase environmentally friendly products in both countries, even though the influential degree in Poland was much higher than that in Vietnam. Remarkably, cultural dimensions were found to significantly affect green consumption in the collectivist culture of Vietnam, while these relationships were not significant in Poland. This study was expected to significantly contribute to the existing literature by boosting our understanding of the importance of cultural values and perceived knowledge environment in promoting green consumption in the cross-cultural context.
This study aims to examine how marketing communication channels for organic food (MCOF) and perceived organic food values (OFV) stimulate organic food consumers’ behavioural intentions (BI) within the stimulus-organism-response (S–O-R) framework. The online survey resulted in 1011 responses, and data were statistically investigated, employing the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique. Findings show that MCOF is a two-dimensional second-order construct, including controlled communication sources (CCS) and uncontrolled communication sources (UCS). Both MCOF and OFV have significant effects on utilitarian attitude (UA) and hedonic attitude (HA) that impact BI. Both UA and HA have partial mediational effects between OFV and BI and full mediational effects between MCOF and BI. Besides, gender differences are significant for MCOF→HA and OFV→HA paths in the model. Both researchers and practitioners alike could find the results and insights encouraging and valuable.
Purpose
This paper investigates the potential wage impacts of a shift to more environmentally sustainable production patterns.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical analysis is carried out using labour force survey data and interval regressions.
Findings
Estimates at the individual level suggest that small wage differentials exist: individuals employed in green industries earn about seven per cent more than those working in non-green industries.
Originality/value
To date, very little is known about the characteristics of jobs in the green industry and by extension, the labour force effects that can emerge or change as a result of transitioning towards a greener economy. While exploratory in nature, this analysis seeks to shed light on an underdeveloped area of research, namely, wage inequalities associated with transitioning towards green growth.
Based on a model that generates the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the norm activation model (NAM), this study aimed to determine how positive and negative perceptions affect people's willingness to save electricity. It also verified the moderating effect of cognition of price and subsidy policies on residents’ electricity-saving intentions and behaviors. An empirical test was conducted using data on 658 urban residents in the Yangtze River Delta. The results indicated that perceived monetary benefit and perceived environmental benefit both positively affect residents’ willingness to save electricity, but that the effect of perceived inconvenience is significantly negative. Residents’ cognition of electricity price and subsidy policies exerts a prominent positive moderating effect between electricity-saving intentions and behaviors. In addition, perceived behavioral control and personal moral norms indirectly affect electricity-saving behaviors by affecting intentions. Finally, relevant policy recommendations for promoting energy conservation and emissions reduction in households are proposed.
Basing on an analysis of social, cultural and historical contexts with bloody war and conflicts in Vietnamese medieval times in the 15th and 16th centuries, this study focuses on the discussion of the compromise as well as the implicit conflict between indigenous folklore and imported religions from China manifested from folktales to fantasy medieval literature. At the same time, we pointed out that with strong nationalism and Buddhist-Taoist colors of thought, Vietnamese Confucian writers adapted to the traditional folktales, reconciled it with the values and the aspirations of their own culture, and created a unique “anti-Confucianism” discourse in literature. The dynamics of fantasy genre and the complex textual intersection between traditional narratives and literature will be analyzed through the special regenerated process of the archetypal journey from folktales to Vietnamese medieval fantasy short stories.
Purpose
The author augments an otherwise standard business-cycle model with a rich government sector and adds monopolistic competition in the product market and rigid prices, as well as rigid wages a la Calvo (1983) in the labor market.
Design/methodology/approach
This specification with the nominal wage rigidity, when calibrated to Bulgarian data after the introduction of the currency board (1999–2018), allows the framework to reproduce better observed variability and correlations among model variables and those characterizing the labor market in particular.
Findings
As nominal wage frictions are incorporated, the variables become more persistent, especially output, capital stock, investment and consumption, which help the model match data better, as compared to a setup without rigidities.
Originality/value
The computational experiments performed in this paper suggest that wage rigidities are a quantitatively important model ingredient, which should be taken into consideration when analyzing the effects of different policies in Bulgaria, which is a novel result.
The theory of planned behavior (TPB—Ajzen, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1991, 50, 179–211; Ajzen, Handbook of theories of social psychology, 2012, 1, 438–459) has been widely applied to the prediction and change of behavior, including behavior related to the use of technology. This article provides a brief description of the theory and discusses a number of issues and questions that have been raised with respect to the TPB. Among the issues discussed are the difference between the TPB and the theory of reasoned action, perceived behavioral control versus self‐efficacy, the difference between perceived behavioral control and locus of control, the possibility of including additional predictors in the TPB, nonavailability of a standard TPB questionnaire, predicting behavior in a choice situation, the intention‐behavior gap, and a comparison of the technology acceptance model to the TPB.
Cross-country differences in pro-environmental attitudes and corporate social performance are recognized. However, scarce evidence exists on how the interactional effect of cultural values influences the individuals’ pro-environmental behavior. To address this gap, we conceptualize a model of cultural influences on pro-environmental consumer behavior. We extend the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior, by including additional variables shown to influence pro-environmental attitudes, intentions, and behaviors, i.e., environmental values, and environmental concern. We add to the sustainability literature as we identify central pro-environmental cultural value orientations: collectivism, femininity, future orientation, and uncertainty avoidance, and integrate them into the underlying model of planned behavior as moderating variables. Our theoretical contribution lies in conceptually identifying the interactional role of cultural values having a moderating effect on pro-environmental consumer behavior. We show how cultural values can influence the relationship between environmental concern and pro-environmental behavior, and thus mitigate the ‘green gap,’ as well as the gap between behavioral intentions and behaviors. Our conceptualization is a stepping-stone in recognizing and capitalizing on cross-cultural differences to promote pro-environmental behaviors across cultures. The principal goal of social agents promoting sustainability is formulating communication strategies that appeal to consumer values. In terms of practical and managerial implications, this research helps marketers effectively target culturally different consumer segments, which requires understanding of the cultural and social influences of pro-environmental behaviors. Understanding the moderating role of cultural values also helps in developing these values related to pro-environmental attitudes in other countries.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become one of emerging issues in such countries as Vietnam and Poland and in the rest of the world. This is due to the advantages it brings to socio-economic sustainable development or the living environment. The focus of this research is to present a comparative analysis of the current understanding, awareness and attitudes of Polish and Viet-namese customers. The study employs quantitative analyses and some tools of descriptive statistics to show that although Vietnamese and Polish customers have a rather positive attitude towards the issues related to CSR, they are still not interested in CSR reports on companies' reputation and image as well as environmental pollution. Moreover, customers also pay attention to low prices rather than the CSR reputation of companies. By utilising the Mann-Whitney U Test, this study shows that even though both countries are seen as transitional economies, there are certain differences in attitudes towards and awareness of CSR activities between Vietnamese and Polish customers.
Currently, energy and its usage are the primary environmental issues in all countries and regions. As a special social group, university students not only have extremely high energy consumption needs, but they have more advanced consumption concepts. Understanding their energy-saving characteristics could provide foresight for predicting the energy-saving characteristics of future residents. Using data collected from 737 valid questionnaires, from five typical universities in Macau, this study investigated university students' energy-saving behaviors, attitudes and awareness, and analyzed the possible influencing factors. The results showed that the energy-saving behaviors and attitudes of respondents from five university were nearly the same. Meanwhile, 75.98% of the respondents clearly recognized that energy-savings behaviors are closely related to their daily study and life, and 96.61% of the university students thought that it is very necessary to save energy. In addition, 92.94% of students thought it was necessary to carry out energy-saving education in universities. The regression analysis indicated that “the relationship between energy-saving awareness and daily life” and “the necessity of energy-saving education” are positively correlated with the energy-saving awareness at the significance level of 1%, whereas the energy-saving behaviors, “give priority to energy-saving products” and “shut down your computer when going out”, are positively correlated with energy-saving awareness at the significance level of 10% and 5%, respectively. Finally, we proposed effective suggestions for raising the awareness of saving energy among university students.
The domestic sector is responsible for approximately a third of total energy consumption in Vietnam. However, research on the details of energy consumption in this sector is relatively poor and there is a lack of data on actual energy use in households. This study attempts to fill the gap by providing an analysis of appliance penetration, usage behavior, and actual energy consumption of Vietnamese homes. Data were collected from a survey of 60 households in Tuy Hoa City on the South-Central Coast of Vietnam in 2017. The result shows that the average energy consumption was 4492 kWh per household per year, in which electricity and liquefied petroleum gas accounted for 74.4% and 25.6% respectively. The breakdown of current energy consumption revealed that cooling was the primary consuming end-use with 31.9% of the total, followed by cooking gas with 25.6% and kitchen appliances with 18.5%. Energy consumption for typical households with various ownership levels of air conditioner were also predicted. The results of this study are therefore a valuable reference for policy makers, energy planners and Vietnamese households themselves to understand the existing energy consumption characteristics and identify potential ways to improve energy efficiency in dwellings.
Education makes it possible for students to become familiar with the rational management of energy as well as learn to implement energy saving practices in their everyday life. The study of certain student characteristics helps in the direction of applying strategies of behavioural change. The aim of this research is to record the knowledge and attitudes of elementary school students in the Prefecture of Evros with regard to energy saving. The collection of research data was done through the use of a structured and anonymous questionnaire with closed questions. The method used for the collection of the research data was cluster sampling. This involved 17 elementary schools of the continental part of the prefecture. 612 questionnaires were completed by students of the 5th and 6th grade of these schools. The evaluation of the research data showed that 69.6% of the students think that the most appropriate house temperature is 20°C with 79.1% of the students keeping the thermostat switched off while the house is aired. With regard to the use of TV, stereo, play station and PC the research showed that 93.8% of the students switch off the above devices when these are not in use. In parallel, 86.6% of the respondents usually or always switch off the lights when coming out of a room and 46.2% of the students use energy saving bulbs. Also, 93% of the students recycle because they believe that doing so contributes to the protection of the environment while 41% always chooses to walk to school. With regard to the significance of reasons concerning energy saving 85.9% thinks that energy saving is important to very important for reducing environmental pollution.
Younger generations encounter much more challenges than their (grand)parents in fighting climate change and experience more radical behavioral changes in achieving net zero carbon target by 2050. However, there is insufficient research on energy-saving behavioral mechanisms of young people and the gender effect on their perceptions and practices. This study aims to explore gender differences in reasoning energy-saving behaviors of university students. First, a social psychological model was proposed by expanding the theory of planned behavior to expound energy-saving behaviors. Then, the proposed model was tested using structural equation modelling methods with data obtained from 1021 university students in Hong Kong. Next, gender differences in energy-saving behaviors were examined with multigroup analysis and comparative statistical methods. Results show that gender differences existed evidently in energy-saving perceptions and practices of university students in favor of females. Behavioral intentions of males and females were predicted by different combinations of beliefs, though they shared similar “belief - intention & control - behavior” logics. Gender effect sizes ranged from trivial to moderate and overestimation or neglect of meaningful gender differences should be avoided. The findings enable a better understanding of gender effect in pro-environmental domain and facilitate the transformation to low carbon lifestyles.
The energy-efficient behaviour of occupants in residential buildings is critical to reducing the carbon emissions of buildings. However, it is not clear how to motivate occupants, especially the younger generation, who are considered to be more environmentally concerned than previous generations, to engage in energy-saving behaviour and increase their energy-saving intentions. This study integrates "Personal moral norms" (PMNs) into the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and proposes a new theoretical framework aimed at understanding important internal factors that influence energy-saving behaviour and behavioural intentions in student dormitories. Using partial least squares structural equation modelling, this paper conducts an empirical analysis of 448 questionnaires collected in universities. The results showed that (1) attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and PMNs were significantly positively correlated with energy-saving intentions. (2) The results verify the validity of the extended TPB J o u r n a l P r e-p r o o f 2 model. (3) Students' energy-saving intentions have indirect mediating effects on attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, PMNs, and energy-saving behaviours. (4) The effects of subjective norms and perceived behavioural control on energy-saving intentions were significantly different by gender. This study suggests directions for research on the energy-saving behaviour of the young generation.
Economic growth and corresponding energy demand have been rapidly increasing in developing countries where household determinants have a remarkable influence. This study draws on the impact of household accessible factors on energy use in Vietnam which remains a new case study with rare information on energy data in the residential area. Path analysis is applied to illustrate a complex structure of how household factors with different multi-unit impacts energy use on the same scale. The direct and indirect correlations between household factors and energy use can be clarified by graphical visualization of Tree Plot Path and Correlation Matrix. The results shed light on the “influence level” of direct and indirect factors, where household size, housing floor area, and the number of air conditioning significantly affect total energy consumption in the case study. The use of cooking utensils is significantly proportional to the occupancy of people at home while non-cooking electricity consumption derives from the number of air-conditioners. By adapting to different environmental and social characteristics, this concise and modifiable model syntax shows the levels of household impacts to offer appropriate scenarios for energy-saving policies in areas with hard-to-reach statistical data such as Vietnam and other developing countries in the region.
Environmental commentators have speculated, but not empirically validated, that consumers’ positive (negative) evaluation of the economy will lead to more (less) green consumption. The purposes of this study were to (1) ascertain whether consumer confidence affects green consumption and (2) uncover the psychological mechanisms of this relationship, in a non-recession context. Drawing upon the stimulus-organism-response model, we developed a conceptual model, which we tested via mediation analysis, using data from a sample of Chinese consumers (n = 1,184). Results show that there is a positive relationship between consumer confidence and green purchase intention. Environmental and status consciousness partially mediates the positive relationship between consumer confidence and green purchase intention. We contribute to the literature on antecedents of green consumption by being the first to empirically establish the salience of consumer confidence in this domain. Investigating green purchase intention, which differs depending on consumer confidence level, has the potential to assist retailers in developing better marketing tactics. Our study also benefits economists and environmentalists by helping them better understand how consumer confidence fluctuations play critical roles in addressing economic growth-driven major environmental challenges.
We develop an integrated conceptual model of the drivers and outcomes of consumers’ intentions to buy organic goods, anchored on the Theory of Planned Behavior. Our meta-analysis uses data extracted from 149 studies reported in 135 articles. The results indicate that, as opposed to consumers who are price-conscious, individuals who are environmentally, health, and safety conscious are more likely to develop a favorable attitude toward organic goods, have a higher level of subjective norms, and maintain stronger personal behavioral control. These constructs positively affect consumer intention to buy organic goods, which ultimately leads to their actual purchase. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (i.e., individualism, masculinity, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, indulgence) were also found to play a pivotal role in moderating most causal relationships between constructs of the model. It was also revealed that studies focusing on organic food exhibited stronger effects on construct associations compared to studies examining non-food products.
The cultural theory explains social behavior through four elementary types of cultural values consisting of hierarchy, individualism, egalitarianism, and fatalism. The knowledge of how these values influence attitudes and behaviors specifically pertain to the environment is limited. Understanding individuals’ values and attitudes should be addressed in travel mode choice based on possible impacts of transportation on the environment. This study investigates the effect of cultural values on pro-environmental attitude and the influence of this attitude on travel mode choice in light of a hierarchical latent choice model. The model is estimated using data from a random sampling in CBD (Central Business District) of Tehran, Iran. The pro-environmental attitude, which is postulated to be affected by cultural values, is considered as the latent variable directly affecting travel mode choice. The cultural values drivers of pro-environmental attitude have been seen in a hierarchical structure. The estimated results show that hierarchical cultural tendency has the strongest and positive effect on being pro-environmental. Also, individualistic culture indicates a positive trend in being pro-environmental. On the other side, people with egalitarianism value tend to report an orientation towards pro-environmental attitude. Moreover, pro-environmental attitude increases the utility of public and active modes of transportation and a negative significant effect is found on the utility of private car and motorcycle.
Entrepreneurial intention plays a key role in entrepreneurship. Over the years, scholars have explained it using personality traits, cognitive models and, to a lesser extent, the role of social environment. Since this role has been underestimated, we build on trait activation theory to explore how social networks are especially relevant and can trigger the activation of individuals’ need for achievement to predict entrepreneurial intention. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 597 university students from Spain using partial least squares (PLS). Our results confirm that social network size positively influences the entrepreneurial information obtained in social networks, which in turn, positively impacts entrepreneurial intention. Additionally, we found that need for achievement is activated in the context of social networks, enhancing the influence of this information on entrepreneurial intention. Through fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), we also identify alternative configurations of the previous variables that lead to greater entrepreneurial intention.
Based on an experiment on urban residents in China, this study analyzes the influence of differently framed messages on energy-saving behaviors. It is the first to study the effect of scale framing (large vs. small scale) and the interaction effects between scale and benefit framing (environmental vs. monetary benefit) on energy-saving behaviors. The study also analyzes the mediating effect of attitude, and the moderating effect of contextual factors. Data was collected from 1280 Chinese residents and was analyzed using a structural equation model. The results indicate that scale framing has significant effects on energy-saving usage behavior both directly and indirectly. However, the environmental or monetary benefit of saving energy surprisingly makes no difference to urban residents. Interestingly, in the monetary framing, large-scale messages can significantly promote energy-saving usage behavior compared to small-scale ones, while the differences are not significant in the environmental framing. Among the contextual factors, individual income and education level have significant moderating effects on several paths in our theoretical model. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications for energy-saving behavior promotion are discussed.
Food waste is a serious problem that impacts the environment and sustainability by increasing greenhouse gas emissions from landfills. Food waste also represents a social challenge because it raises serious concerns about food security. While acknowledging that households waste a great deal of food because they lack a proper routine for reusing leftovers and purchase more food than required, few studies have extensively examined the drivers of leftover reuse and over-ordering. We address this gap using the stimulus-organism-response paradigm. Moral norms and anticipated pride are conceptualised as stimuli that impact the organismic state of intentions against food waste and response in the form of leftover reuse routines and over-purchasing of food. Data collected from 443 individuals residing in the United States confirm the positive association of norms and pride with intentions. Statistical analyses also reveal a positive association between intentions and leftover reuse routines and a negative association between intentions and over-purchasing of food. The results further demonstrate the mediation effect of intentions on the association of moral norms and anticipated pride with both response variables; in addition, we find that household income exerts a positive moderation effect on the association of norms and pride with intentions and a negative moderation effect on the association of anticipated pride with over-purchasing of food. Researchers, organisations and policymakers can draw upon these findings to motivate future research, propose effective strategies and enact favourable policies to promote sustainability and reduce food-related waste at the household level.
Purpose
This paper employs the theoretical foundations for subjective well-being to examine the impacts of two underlying dimensions of subjective well-being (psychological well-being and social well-being) on pro-environmental consumption behaviors (PECBs). In this research, the moderating role of exposure to positive environmental messages on media in the relationship between subjective well-being and PECBs is also examined.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses a quantitative research method with data collected from an online survey questionnaire posted in Facebook groups related to PECBs in Vietnam.
Findings
Psychological well-being and social well-being are found to be separate significant predictors of PECBs. More importantly, exposure to positive environmental messages on media was found to reinforce the impacts of psychological well-being on PECB but not moderate the relationship between social well-being and PECB.
Originality/value
This research offers a new insight for encouraging PECB from the perspective of subjective well-being. Different from the extant perspectives, which usually examine subjective well-being as a unidimensional antecedent of PECB, the authors highlight that subjective well-being can influence PECB in two separate dimensions. Moreover, this research extends existing literature by accentuating the role of exposure to environmental messages in the association between different types of social well-being and PECB.
Personality traits play an important role in pro-environmental behavioral heterogeneity. This study aims to explore the effects of Big Five personality traits on the energy-saving behavior of residents based on the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB). We employ the k-means algorithm to cluster 1119 respondents in Xi'an, China by their personality characteristics into four groups: (1) the positives, (2) the temperates, (3) the conservatives, and (4) the introverts. The research observes significant heterogeneity of energy-saving behavior among the four resident groups. We examine the behavioral pattern of each resident group, and the analysis indicates that TPB attributes bridge personality traits and household energy-saving behaviors. The extended TPB factors explain the best performance on household energy-saving intention and behaviors of the positives. Besides, the results present the different effects of psychological factors on the energy-saving behaviors of different resident groups. The positive and temperate groups’ energy-saving intention is more sensitive to subjective norms, while perceived behavior control plays a more critical role in other groups. This study could broaden the scope of pro-environmental behavior research and advance knowledge by untangling the intertwined relationship between personality traits and household energy-saving behavior. The findings can contribute to occupant typology development, which is important to capture the diverse energy effect of occupant activity in building energy simulation research as well as differential energy-saving intervention setting in residential buildings to achieve sustainable development goals.
Based on branding and place branding frameworks, we build a comprehensive model which allows the unraveling of the mechanism by which behavioral intentions toward a place brand are formed. Two serial mediation hypotheses are proposed and tested from the perspective of (prospective) residents. Conducted on a sample of residents of a French city (N = 571), this study shows that place brand heritage and place brand experience positively influence place brand equity, which in turn positively influences place attachment. Place attachment then influences residents’ behavioral intentions toward the city. Thanks to a Bayesian assessment of the uncertainty and plausibility of competing mediation models, the results also validate our more parsimonious relationships network, hence reinforcing the mediating role of both place brand equity and place attachment. Our findings also provide local governments and city brand managers with recommendations regarding how to maintain and enhance relationships with residents.
The ratio and quantity of residential electricity consumption in China are increasing steadily with the country's economic development; conservation of electricity consumption has special significance for reduction of carbon emissions. Based on data from 635 questionnaire surveys in four typical Chinese megacities (Beijing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and Guiyang), this study analysed the determinants of residential electricity consumption and electricity saving behaviours using the multivariate regression method, estimated the price elasticities of heterogeneous resident groups by combining the results of an elasticity formula and a multinomial logit model, and assessed residential electricity conservation potential. The results were as follows: economic indicators proved to be the factors most strongly influencing residential energy conservation behaviours; electricity elasticity varied significantly among heterogeneous demographic and income groups towards economic intervention instruments, within a scale of 0.16-0.63; and price interventions can effectively reduce residential electricity demand and reduce carbon emissions from electricity use by 3.2%-9.3%, thereby improving energy conservation. An appropriate policy mix should be adopted to reduce household carbon emissions effectively, including addressing regional disparities and expanding ladder price differences across different income groups to fulfil every resi-dent's well-being, along with increased publicity and education efforts to improve people's energy-saving awareness in the long term.
In business and service buildings, shared spaces constitute large areas where the occupants share the energy resources and manage them. Changing people’s behaviors toward conscious and efficient energy use within shared spaces has great potential to conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The occupants in a shared area closely interact with each other and their energy use behaviors have a higher probability of being influenced by the group environment. Although the significant role of groups in occupant behavior has been highlighted in some studies, little is known about how group environments affect individual energy-saving behaviors in a shared space. This study explored the influencing mechanism of group-level factors on individual energy-saving behavior in a shared space and developed a theoretical model based on dynamic group theory. A literature review was carried out to identify group-level factors that may influence individual energy-saving behavior. An empirical study was conducted in the shared space contextualized in college student residences in Zhuhai, China, to understand the mechanism of how the group-level factors influence individual energy-saving behaviors. Data collected from the questionnaire survey was analyzed through structural equation modeling. The results showed that descriptive norms i.e., actions of other group members, have the highest impact on individuals’ energy saving behavior in a shared space. Interestingly, any direct feedback or suggestions provided to an individual to save energy has a very minimum influence on individuals’ energy-saving behavior. In shared spaces, what others actually do is more influential in motivating individuals to engage in energy-saving behaviors than any energy-saving instructions given to an individual. Group interaction is conducive to increasing the visibility of descriptive norms and thus strengthening individuals’ behavioral intention for energy saving. These findings will contribute to developing energy-saving strategies in a shared space focusing on ‘descriptive norms’, replacing the current instruction-based approach. Besides, the empirical research findings could provide a guideline for policy makers to develop behavioral change strategies regarding energy conservation.
Occupant behavior in residential buildings has great energy-saving potential and offers an important opportunity for realizing the targets of energy conservation and carbon emission reduction. Traditionally, it is believed that occupant behavior aligns with people's energy-related attitude. However, an attitude-behavior gap has been observed in many recent studies, which rarely focused on specific attitudes and behaviors in urban residential buildings. Therefore, based on a large-scale empirical survey (N=1003) in Beijing, China, we explore the relationship between energy-related attitudes and behaviors. Specifically, purchase and habitual behaviors are investigated along with relevant attitudes, including the willingness to pay (WTP) more for energy efficient products, whether paying attention (WPA) to energy efficiency parameters/indicators of products when making a purchase, and the willingness to change behavior (WTC) for further residential energy reduction. The results show a mixed picture. There is a consistency between the occupants’ WPA and purchase behavior. In contrast, the occupants generally don’t behave consistently with their reported WTP and WTC, suggesting the existence of attitude-behavior gaps. Different reasons may lead to these gaps, demonstrating the necessity of a more comprehensive and flexible strategy for energy policymaking. Furthermore, a closer look at the factors underlying different attitudes shows the significant effects that perceived building thermal insulation performance and past experiences of changing behavior may have, suggesting the effectiveness and importance of building thermal retrofits and more targeted awareness campaigns. A self-reinforcing feedback loop may exist between attitude and behavior, demonstrating the great potential of social interactions and peer influence for behavioral change.
The impact of organic food corporate image on customers' surpassing purchasing behavior is absent in prior literature. Based on the S–O-R framework, the current study focuses on organic food member customers to explore the influence of corporate ability (CA) image and corporate social responsibility (CSR) image of organic food company on the consumption behavior and co-developing behavior of customers. The consumer samples came from 269 member customers of an organic food enterprise in southwest China. The results show that organic food company CA and CSR image positively affect consumer trust and co-developing behavior. CSR image enhances consumer trust and co-developing behavior than CA image does. Additionally, consumer trust and purchase intention play a multi-step mediating role in the relationship between corporate image (CA and CSR) and consumers' co-developing behavior. In conclusion, our findings provide new insights for understanding the relationship between the corporate image of organic food and the co-developing behavior of customers. The research results provide support for organic food companies that can effectively promote consumer trust, continuous purchase, and active engagement in the co-development of products and services by creating an image of ability and social responsibility.
National culture can affect consumer behaviour, but there is limited empirical evidence to establish the exact magnitude of this effect in particular consumption contexts and in specific consumption markets. This paper contributes to knowledge by exploring and comparing the extent to which national culture may contribute to pro-environmental behaviour of tourists in the UK and China. By drawing upon the five dimensions or values of national culture proposed by Hofstede, Schwartz and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (Individualism, Power distance, Long-term Orientation, Harmony and Indulgence) and by applying the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling, the study establishes the causal relationships between the cultural backgrounds of tourists, their environmental knowledge, pro-environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behavioural intentions. The implications for policy-making, management and future research are discussed.
Research on sustainable consumption has gained much popularity in the past few years, and the of the green gap phenomenon has had its share of studies. This phenomenon is known as the discrepancy between what consumers say about their growing concern regarding the environment, on the one hand, and what they truly do to help sustain this environment, on the other hand. Although reviews of the motivations and barriers of green consumption are available in the literature, none of them focuses on the green gap, nor examines the methodologies and paradigms used in the available studies. Given the importance of methodology in creating the green gap, and considering the effect of the adopted paradigm on the reliability of the results, it is essential to identify these two aspects in each reviewed study. In this work, we use a pre-assigned framework to categorize 58 articles addressing the green gap, based on the theory, methodology, and paradigm applied in each article. An overview of the studies shows that despite the diversity of methods used, there is still room for improvement in terms of methodology, paradigm, and theory. Most importantly, qualitative studies and experimental designs are needed, and the rational paradigm must not be replaced by but should instead complement the current trend that favors the behavioral economic. As for the theoretical improvements, the research focus must shift from exploring the reasons behind the gap to implementing solutions to it.
Technology providers have clearly understood that considering consumers' behavioural changes is important in developing new technologies, particularly in the energy sector. This study examines the effectiveness of exposure to information and self-benefit appeals in determining the energy conservation behaviours of consumers. In particular, based on an extension of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, we used data from a survey of 450 householders in Tuscany (Italy) to analyse how advertising appeals and the prior exposure to general information about energy conservation influence intentions to undertake energy saving behaviour and invest in different energy efficient technologies. The results suggest that advertising based on self-benefit appeals, which is a communication method typically aimed at producing short-term effects, is effective in promoting reductions in energy consumption and investment in widely-adopted technologies, but cannot increase the interest of consumers in scarcely-adopted ones, which have less associations with repeated exposure to general information about energy conservation. Thus, technology providers should consider combining communication methods with short-term and long-term orientations to successfully turn consumers’ informational basis and self-benefit appeals into intentions to perform pro-environmental behaviours. The study concludes with a discussion of its theoretical and managerial implications in the field of market-oriented technology management.
Despite the insufficiency of accessible energy along with a steady increase in energy consumption in the least developed countries, there are still limited numbers of studies on residential energy-saving behaviors and its determinants in such countries. Hence, this study investigates the determinants of urban residents’ energy-saving behaviors in Myanmar. Specifically, this study has attempted to investigate the effects of knowledge about energy issues, degree of concern, perceived energy-saving control, and sense of responsibility on energy-saving behaviors of urban residents in Myanmar. This study is empirically tested via multiple regression, using survey data collected from urban residents of Myanmar (n = 200). Results show that knowledge about energy issues, degree of concern, perceived energy-saving control, and sense of responsibility positively and significantly influence energy-saving behaviors. Among four determinants, the degree of concern has the most significant impact on urban residents’ energy-saving behaviors. Being the first empirical study that has explored the determinants of urban resident’s energy-saving behaviors in Myanmar, this study makes good recommendations for Myanmar policymakers in formulating and implementing energy-saving and environmental protection policies. Furthermore, this study intends to serve as a reference to stakeholders who are involved in enhancing energy-saving behaviors in the least developed countries like Myanmar.
This paper intends to examine the key drivers of household environmental attitudes and energy-saving behavior using both observed and stated attitudinal factors. Beginning with an assessment of energy-saving behaviors Item Response Theory (IRT), we associate hierarchical multivariate regression with an innovative variable selection approach via Elastic Net Selection (ENS). Our empirical study is based on data from the 2012 ENERGIHAB project survey. Empirical evidence in this article contributes with new insights about the main explanatory factors of household energy-saving behavior. The main results further suggest that energy-saving behavior tends to fluctuate throughout time in households. Our findings and approach generate broader methodological insights into energy efficiency analysis through behavioral aspects.
The practice of collaborative consumption is increasingly spreading and diversifying nowadays, impacting both individuals and businesses. This paper seeks to contribute to the emerging debate that acknowledges its global importance by providing a cultural understanding of the deeper mechanisms underlying attitudes and intentions associated with collaborative consumption. The survey design aims to integrate personal norms, behavioral beliefs and individualism-collectivism constructs within the theory of planned behavior framework and thus to better explain the intention to engage in collaborative consumption. The study was conducted in Romania and Italy and a Partial Least Squares-Path Modeling approach was implemented to analyze the data. The findings illustrates the role played by responsibility, uniqueness and advice, as cultural facets revealed by the Auckland Individualism and Collectivism Scale-as significant predecessors of attitude and subjective norms related to collaborative consumption. Responsibility is the dimension with a positive impact on attitude in both countries, and even on behavioral intention in Italy, while advice and uniqueness show a certain degree of leverage only in Romania. The implications reinforce the need for tailored approaches at the cultural level in order to increase the uptake of collaborative consumption.
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) has historically been used to develop and improve reflectively measured constructs based on the domain sampling model. Compared to CFA, confirmatory composite analysis (CCA) is a recently proposed alternative approach applied to confirm measurement models when using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). CCA is a series of steps executed with PLS-SEM to confirm both reflective and formative measurement models of established measures that are being updated or adapted to a different context. CCA is also useful for developing new measures. Finally, CCA offers several advantages over other approaches for confirming measurement models consisting of linear composites.
We investigated whether a combination of prompted commitment, implementation information, and guided
process monitoring would facilitate bridging the intention-behavior gap in electricity saving. In a neighborhood
of new housing, user interaction with a smart meter web portal was analyzed and the effect of portal usage on
electricity consumption was evaluated. The information architecture of the web portal was designed following
principles derived from a stage model of self-regulated behavioral change. The design focused on prompting
commitment to saving tips and supporting their implementation. Users that committed themselves to at least one
saving tip were higher in pre-baseline goal intention than users that did not. The act of committing to saving tips,
together with continued self-monitoring of the process of tip implementation, was predictive of a significant
saving effect. Thus, for motivated users techniques inducing commitment to action and guiding towards implementation
of the action plan seem effective in generating electricity savings.
Saving energy in workplaces provides a valuable opportunity to lessen energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This article draws on stimulus-organism-response theory (SOR) to explore the impact of circumstance stimulus and internal psychological states on employee’s energy saving intention. Partial Least Square (PLS) was employed to examine the research model with 249 valid responses among Chinese office workers. Findings indicated that descriptive norms, organizational energy saving climate, and media publicity (i.e., stimulus) had a significant direct and positive impact on employee’s perceived energy saving responsibility and social pressure (i.e., organism). Moreover, the employee’s perceived energy-saving responsibility and social pressure had a significant positive impact on energy saving intention (i.e., response). This study drew theoretical implications for future energy saving research as well as managerial implications for organizations and policymakers.
Social housing residents are vulnerable to rising energy costs. Reductions in energy use through behaviour change may be part of the solution but require an insight into the factors that relate to energy saving behaviour in this context. This paper responds to recent calls for an integrated approach to studying energy saving behaviours, investigating psychological (i.e. attitudes; perceived behavioural control; subjective norms), contextual (i.e. dwelling energy efficiency; problems with condensation, damp and mould), and socio-demographic factors (i.e. gender; age) together. Data was collected using a cross-sectional survey among social housing residents in South-West England. Dwelling characteristics were not found to add to explaining heating related and other energy saving behaviours beyond well-known psychological and socio-demographic factors. The results did suggest that the presence of condensation, damp and mould was associated with more frequent heating-related energy saving behaviours, but not other energy saving behaviours. Furthermore, a moderation effect was found whereby subjective norms appeared to relate more strongly to heating-related energy saving behaviours when people live in energy efficient homes. The study illustrates the value of an integrated approach in understanding the complex interactions between contextual factors, psychological factors and energy saving behaviour and offers opportunities for future research.
Many consumers have a positive attitude toward sustainable products; however they commonly end up not purchasing them. This study focused on exploring the gap between the purchase intention and purchase experience in recycled and upcycled fashion products. Factors including perceived values, risks, environmental concern, perceived consumer effectiveness, subjective norms, and demographic variables were examined to understand the discrepancy. This study provides insights into understanding consumers and developing effective strategies to encourage sustainable consumption.
Previous researches have explored the critical determinants that influence individual’s energy-saving intention. However, these researches rarely focus on individual’s energy-saving intention in developing countries and limited research has been conducted to explore the combined effects of normative factors and perceived behavioral control. In this study, an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) model is employed to narrow this gap. The model is empirically tested using questionnaire survey data collected from 450 respondents in eastern China. The findings reveal that perceived behavioral control is the most decisive factor for individual’s energy-saving intention. Meanwhile, attitude towards energy-saving and personal moral norm are also important factors. Two interaction terms (i.e., perceived behavioral control and subjective injunctive norm, and perceived behavioral control and subjective descriptive norm) are negatively associated with energy-saving intention, which implies that social norm plays an important role in motivating energy-saving behavior in the Chinese context. Furthermore, social norm increases the energy-saving intention of individuals who exhibit low perceived behavioral control. Based on the results, implications for improving individual’s energy-saving intention, limitations of the study and suggestions for further research are discussed.
The current need to adjust to the climate change requires urgent action to be taken both by the stakeholders involved in addressing climate change and by citizens. However, in order for citizens to be able to take part in such actions directly or indirectly, they will need to have a positive perception of the relevant stakeholders, so that a mutual relationship of trust and understanding is established. The objective of this study is to examine citizen satisfaction with the actions of the stakeholders involved in climate change. The study was conducted in Greece using a structured questionnaire; 1536 questionnaires were collected from January 2014 to June 2015 and the relevant data were processed using the MUSA method (MUlticriteria Satisfaction Analysis). The results of the study show that the citizens are not particularly satisfied, mainly with the actions of the governmental authorities involved in addressing climate change. In order to motivate citizens to take part in such actions in future, the relevant governmental bodies will need to increase their involvement and substantially improve their actions regarding the reduction of pollutants from industry and business, the level of civil protection and information provision, as well as public awareness and education on climate change.
As China gradually completes the process of industrialization, its industrial energy consumption growth is now slowing and even decreasing. Meanwhile, household energy consumption in the residential sector has seen steady growth. This paper aims to explore the mechanisms of factors affecting urban household energy-saving behavior including the habitual energy-saving behaviors and purchasing energy-saving behaviors. A structural equation model is built to analyze the influencing routes and effects of individual objective and subjective characteristic factors, external influencing factors, and energy-saving intentions on shaping energy-saving behaviors. The empirical results drawing on the survey data collected in Shandong province show that external influencing factors that have two kinds of mediating effects through energy-saving intentions and individual subjective characteristic factors are the most crucial factors to energy-saving behaviors. Values included in individual subjective factors and quality of energy-saving products included in external influencing factors have greatest effects on energy-saving behaviors.
As one of the major energy-consuming countries, China is under great pressure to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. Companies, especially those with high energy consumption, are considered as key elements to improve energy efficiency. Although the Chinese government has made many related policies, there are still a substantial number of companies that have not adopted proactive energy-saving activities. Thus, it is important to study factors influencing firms’ energy-saving behavior. Drawing on institutional theory, we build a model to explore the relationship between external pressures and firms’ energy-saving behavior. Importantly, we investigated the role of top management support in linking external pressures to firms’ energy-saving behavior and the moderating role of financial slack. The model was empirically examined using survey data collected from firms in China. Results show that top management support positively influences firms’ energy-saving behavior. Command-and-control instruments, mimetic pressure and financial slack influence firms’ energy-saving behavior through top management support, whereas incentive pressure and normative pressure have direct effects on firms’ energy-saving behavior. Furthermore, financial slack positively moderates the effect of top management support on firms’ energy-saving behavior. Based on the empirical results, policy implications on how to promote firms’ energy-saving behavior are discussed.
In the recent years, organic food has gained a great attention from researchers, yet the consumption amount and growth in the market share is relatively low compared to conventional food. The most consistent findings from previous studies have been the inconsistency between consumers' claims and their actual behavior – the so-called intention-behavior or attitude-behavior gap. The majority of past studies focused on investigating the motivational factors to purchase organic food as a proxy to foster organic food consumption. However, it is argued that preceding studies' focus does not readily embrace the consumption itself where purchasing may come secondary to consumption decision/motivation. The objective of this paper is to propose a new approach to determine factors influencing organic food consumption by focusing on those who are consuming and not those considering purchasing organic food. Indeed consumption is a more appropriate measure not confounded with shopping habits. Consumption also reflects high involvement with the product; and the barriers and motivations are as real as the product itself, which makes it an ideal moment to examine the motivation. A model that was developed was tested using the Partial Least Square statistical analysis of an empirical sample of 133 consumers. The results indicated that product-specific attitude (PSA), sensory appeal (SA) and health orientation (HO) had a significant positive influence on individuals’ organic food consumption. The moderating role of future orientation between PSA, HO and consumption were examined and found to be significant. The result suggests that PSA and HO are stronger when future orientation is high. The research provides a significant insight and better understanding of narrowing the attitude-behavior gap. It also adds a new momentum to the growing literature and prior findings on consumer behavior towards organic foods.
A country's economic growth is closely linked to the availability, generation, distribution and use of energy. At the same time, the increased rate of global energy consumption is a risk to development and to the efforts to safeguard people's living standards for the future. The production of electricity from RES substantially contributes to the energy security of states and to environmental protection. Greece has a valuable and exploitable potential in several RES and can significantly increase their use. However, various significant institutional changes have taken place in Greece over the last decades involving changes to the energy mix, the penetration of RES and attracting foreign investment.
The present research took place on the island of Andros, Greece, with the help of a questionnaire and face-to-face interviews. It is noted that the respondents agree with the need to save energy and to expand the use of green energy. They say they are slightly satisfied by the messages given through the Mass Media. They have insufficient information regarding RES systems that can be used in households and believe that a major subsidy from the state would lead to their purchase.