Boomers’ Intention to Choose Healthy Housing Materials: An Application of the Health Belief Model

Abstract

This study aims to understand the decision-making process of healthy housing material selection of boomers who were born between 1946 and 1964 in the United States within the Health Belief Model (HBM) framework incorporating personal factors. The main constructs were three HBM components (perceived benefits, threats, and barriers), personal domains (knowledge, health concerns, and sensitivity to housing materials), and behavioral intention to choose healthy housing materials. With a nationwide random sample of boomers living in their homes (N = 306), path analysis was used to test the proposed research model. The findings indicate that behavioral intention to choose healthy housing materials is influenced by perceived benefits and threats. Of the personal factors, the knowledge component is directly and indirectly significantly associated with the behavioral intention. Insignificant association of perceived barriers and other personal components (health concerns and sensitivity) to the intention and the HBM components yield meaningful implications and discussions. The contribution of the HBM application to this study is to provide a foundation for understanding healthy housing material choosing behaviors for the general prevention of potential health issue purposes rather than actual maintenance. This paper discusses the significance of breadth and reliability of knowledge and the role of the relevant professionals to provide and communicate this knowledge.