Moderating Effects of Socio-cultural Values on Pro-environmental Behaviors

Date
2020-03-11
Authors
Koon, O
Chan, RYK
Sharma, P
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Emerald
Abstract

This paper aims to explain the discrepancy between pro-environmental intentions and behaviors with moderating effects of two socio-cultural values (espoused individualism and faith in others) on the link between intentions and actual behaviors to save electricity.</jats:p></jats:sec>jats:sec<jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title>jats:pAn online survey of 303 consumers in Hong Kong with a structured questionnaire was used to collect the data to test all the hypothesized relationships.</jats:p></jats:sec>jats:sec<jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title>jats:pAttitude toward saving electricity has a significant positive effect on the intentions to save electricity, but subjective norms and perceived behavioral control have no such effect on intentions but do positively affect the actual electricity saving behavior. Finally, the link between intentions and behavior to save electricity is negatively moderated by espoused individualism and positively by faith in others.</jats:p></jats:sec>jats:sec<jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Research limitations/implications</jats:title>jats:pThis study was conducted with a sample of consumers in Hong Kong; hence, its findings may not be generalizable to other countries.</jats:p></jats:sec>jats:sec<jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title>jats:pThis study provides new insights into the link between pro-environmental intentions and behaviors by looking beyond the theory of planned behavior and exploring the moderating role of socio-cultural values on the intention-behavior link.

Description
Keywords
Attitude; Espoused individualism; Faith in others; Pro-environmental; Perceived behavioral control; Subjective norms
Source
Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 38 No. 5, pp. 603-618. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-10-2019-0534
Rights statement
Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2020. Authors retain the right to place his/her pre-publication version of the work on a personal website or institutional repository for non commercial purposes. The definitive version was published in (see Citation). The original publication is available at www.emeraldinsight.com (see Publisher’s Version).