“Why Do We Buy Green Products?” An Extended Theory of the Planned Behavior Model for Green Product Purchase Behavior

Many consumers are concerned about environmental issues and have expressed interest in purchasing green products. However, actual sales of green products are still not as high as expected. Therefore, marketers of green products may need to investigate the factors driving green purchase behaviors. In this study, we proposed an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) model that links consumers’ environmental concerns, perceived image of the company, consumer innovativeness, and environmental knowledge with green product purchase behavior. We applied a quantitative approach to collect the data via online questionnaires through Amazon MTurk. With 974 useable samples, the data were analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM) using Smart PLS. The results showed that green purchase intention positively and significantly affects green purchase behavior. Moreover, the multigroup analysis revealed that the direct influence of green purchase intention on green purchase behavior is higher in developing countries than in developed countries. Regarding the direct effect on green purchase intention, attitude toward green products, perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE), environmental concern, and company’s perceived green image are significant antecedents of the intention to purchase, with attitude toward green products being the most robust antecedent among the three. However, subjective norms do not act as a direct antecedent of purchase intention. For the indirect effect on green purchase intention, four main antecedents (attitude toward green products, subjective norms, PCE, and environmental concerns) indirectly impact purchase intention via the mediating role of the perceived green image of the company. This study contributes to existing literatures via extending the TPB model. Regarding attitude-intention-behavior model, we found that environmental concern complements the model as an antecedent of green purchase intention. Moreover, a company’s perceived green image mediates the relationship between four antecedents and green purchase intention. Therefore, marketers of green products may also enhance future purchases by promoting the green image of the company. Particularly, we found that environmental knowledge positively moderates the relationship between environmental concern and a company’s perceived green image. We added on the empirical evidence that PCE plays a crucial role in stimulating green purchases as its direct positive influence on green purchase behavior is larger than that of green purchase intention. Moreover, consumer innovativeness positively moderates the relationship between PCE and green purchase intention.

Relations among Pro-Environmental Behavior, Environmental Knowledge, Environmental Perception, and Post-Materialistic Values in China

During the economic boom, China’s government was mainly concerned with economic development; however, numerous environmental problems have arisen. Evidence suggests that Chinese individuals’ pro-environmental behavior (PEB) is at a low level in Asia. However, it does not match their high-quality environmental knowledge. In this paper, the database of the Chinese General Social Survey was used to explore the correlation between environmental knowledge and PEB in a broader context. Subsequently, environmental perception and post-materialistic values (PMV) were taken as the mediator and moderator into structural equation modeling, and every variable kept robust and consistent through exploratory factor analysis. The empirical results indicated that: (i) individuals with higher environmental knowledge always show higher passion to PEB; (ii) environmental perception plays a partially mediating role between environmental knowledge and PEB; (iii) PMV moderate the formation of environmental behavior systematically; and (iv) compared with public counterpart, the relation between environmental knowledge and PEB is significantly higher in private environmental behavior. The study results could become the basis for the Chinese government and environmental NGOs to effectively spread environmental knowledge, advocate a post-materialistic lifestyle, and improve the authenticity of online media reports on environmental issues.

Environmental Knowledge of Participants’ Outdoor and Indoor Physical Education Lessons as an Example of Implementing Sustainable Development Strategies

(1) Background: The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of physical activity outdoors in nature as part of physical education in schools on the level of knowledge and ecological attitudes. (2) Material and methods: A total of 220 students took part in the study, with 103 of them in the treatment group, which usually practiced outdoor physical education classes, and 117 in the control group, which practiced mainly indoor. The project lasted 21 months, covering the last two years of primary school. The authors used the Children’s Environmental Attitude and Knowledge Scale CHEAKS in this study. The authors sought for an answer to the question of whether bringing a young person closer to nature by participating in a greater number of outdoor physical education lessons results in in-depth environmental knowledge. (3) Results: The appearance of seven statistically significant differences in ecological knowledge in the final study in favor of the group having outdoor physical education lessons proves the cognitively and visually stimulating role of a natural environment for physically active people. The location of physical education lessons turned out to be a much stronger condition for in-depth knowledge than gender, place of residence, parents’ education level, and subjective assessment of the financial satisfaction level. (4) Conclusion: These results are an incentive to further developing the young generation’s contact with nature through outdoor physical education lessons.

Knowledge, Attitude and Eco-Efficiency Urban Environment in the Inhabitants of the District of Chilca – Peru

The attitude is based on the self-concept or degree to which an individual perceives an integral part of the natural environment and situations with which it is related. Knowledge includes obtaining, analyzing and systematizing an individual from their natural environment, which is an important step for personal understanding and development. The objective of the research was to analyze and relate the environmental knowledge and attitude of 382 people towards urban-sustainable eco-efficiency in the inhabitants of the Chilca district. Two questionnaires [knowledge and attitude] of 23 questions were designed, the interview was personal to 382 people between the ages of 20 and 50 years. The questionnaire presented 5 responses using the Likert scale, the relationship was corroborated by hiring Rho Spearman and t-student statistical hypotheses. Result: The Environmental Knowledge towards Eco-efficiency (267, 290 and 225 has an idea totally in agreement in air and soil, biological diversity and climate change, respectively). The Environmental Attitude towards Eco-efficiency (200, 192 and 191 have an idea that is totally in agreement in their cognitive, affective and conative aspects, respectively). The relationship between K. and A. presents a rho=0.47 being a good relationship, with con t-student=10.35 and α=2.2e-16; affirming that there is a relationship between the environmental attitude and environmental knowledge towards eco-efficiency. The inhabitants of Chilca affirm that knowledge and attitude are important and agree to mitigate, reduce and conserve biodiversity, air, soil and water, climate change from a cognitive, affective and conative perspective, forming an eco-efficient polymathic and environmental psychology for sustainable urban. Received: 3 October 2021 / Accepted: 26 November 2021 / Published: 3 January 2022

The mental map as an instrument to define indicators in complex systems: an application on the environmental knowledge of local horticultural farmers

The reductionist and disciplinary paradigm of the Green Revolution coexists with the emerging paradigm of complexity, which values the holistic and the interdisciplinary. Agroecology promotes the need to understand the multiple biophysical relationships that exist in agroecosystems, and this calls for the development of new methodological tools. Sustainability indicators are an example of this. However, their implementation is not simple, as this requires an instrument to simplify the construction of such indicators. The objective of this work is to use the “mental map” as a guide for the development and application of indicators. The graph follows the conceptual path that facilitates the understanding of the variable and its breakdown into smaller and measurable units of analysis, i.e. the indicators. The created mental map has two stages: the development of indicators and their application. Its utility is presented in a case study that addresses local environmental knowledge (LEK). The results of this work show that complexity can be translated into quantifiable, measurable, and comparable variables, without this representing the loss of its characteristics. In addition, it proves that the created tool facilitates the evaluation and understanding of the functioning of agroecosystems, which contributes to decision-making.

Does Environmental Knowledge Matter? Social Influence and Pro-Environmental Behavior in University Students: An Indirect Effect Model

Purpose- This study aims to provide an analytical framework that focuses on environmental knowledge as a mechanism through which social influence enhances pro-environmental behavior among university students. Design/Methodology- The research employed quantitative strategy, cross-sectional survey design, and systematic random sampling techniques to obtain data from a sample of 335 university students using a structured self-administered questionnaire. The study hypotheses were tested using Hayes Process Macro vs. 3.5 (Model 4). Findings- Results indicate that social influence strongly impacts students’ environmental knowledge, and both variables significantly predict pro-environmental behavior. Environmental knowledge was discovered to be the strongest predictor of pro-environmental behavior among students. Finally, results show that environmental knowledge mediates the relationship between social influence and pro-environmental behavior, revealing a complimentary mediation model superior to the direct effect model. Originality- These findings reveal that social influence and students’ environmental knowledge have a strong influence in cultivating students’ pro-environmental behavior. Furthermore, the complementary mediation model, which shows superior results than the direct effect model, contributes to the body of knowledge and offers new insights into theory and practice. Practical Implications- Environmental sustainability may be positioned as a social trend by government and business agencies, such as a promotional campaign, workshops, and training to demonstrate and raise awareness about environmental issues.

Settlers in Earthquake Country

This article examines how settlers in New Zealand and California responded to seismic instability throughout the late nineteenth century. By interpreting a series of moments during which the foundations of settlement were shaken by earthquakes I argue that the economic temporality of colonial boom and bust inflected contemporary understandings of natural disaster. In earthquake country, the relationships between scientists and settlers, their environmental knowledge, and the physical world existed in a dynamic equilibrium. When earthquakes struck in opportune conditions settlers were quick to resume their speculation on land, scientists were inspired by upheaval, and artists found sublimity in instability. In times of doubt earthquakes induced a latent anxiety among settlers about the prospects of the colonial project. In this context natural disasters were framed as threats to growth or harbingers of decline. Read together, responses to earthquakes offer a new way into the environmental history of settler colonialism that places a form of creative destruction at the center of the colonial project on both sides of the Pacific Rim.