Abstract
This article applies a communication/persuasion model to examine what characteristics of students on a United States university campus are associated with drinking bottled water. Survey results show that those who drank more bottled water included non-Whites, those who trusted traditional organizations more and environmental organizations and scientists less, those who read the campus newspaper, and those who valued water safety, taste, and convenience more. Significant bivariate influences on more frequent bottled water drinking that did not persist in the hierarchical regression included conservatism, religiosity, Christian religion, nonindividualism, less interpersonal communication about environmental issues, less civic involvement, younger age, and fewer environmental behaviors. Groups working to reduce bottled water consumption on campuses should provide access to filtered water and emphasize the connection between bottled water and environmental issues, rather than health issues.
Highlights
This article applies a communication/persuasion model to examine what characteristics of students on a United States university campus are associated with drinking bottled water
Significant bivariate influences on more frequent bottled water drinking that did not persist in the hierarchical regression included conservatism, religiosity, Christian religion, nonindividualism, less interpersonal communication about environmental issues, less civic involvement, younger age, and fewer environmental behaviors
This study replicates previous findings that bottled water consumption is fueled by desires for water safety, better taste, and more convenience
Summary
This article applies a communication/persuasion model to examine what characteristics of students on a United States university campus are associated with drinking bottled water. Is not necessarily safer than tap water (Belford, 2008; Government Accountability Office [GAO], 2009; NRDC, 1999), a large proportion (from 40% to 60% worldwide) is packaged and even reprocessed tap water, and the cost factor compared to tap water may be as much as 10000:1 (Doria, 2006) Because of these concerns, many universities have banned bottled water (for a list of campus initiatives, see http://takebackthetapcornell.wordpress.com/). Where university administrators have not acted, environmental groups have created campaigns targeted at the individual level (e.g., Food and Water Watch, http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/take-back-the-tap/; Sierra Club, http://www.facebook.com/TakeBacktheTapSFSU?v1⁄4info) These campus campaigns use tactics that have been supported in the social marketing literature, such as written pledges and advertisements using social norms (e.g., Andreasen, 2006; McKenzie-Mohr, 2010). This article reviews current research, confirms, and expands on some of this work through a survey study and concludes with suggestions for future research and campaign message design
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