Abstract
This research applies a positive stereotype perspective to test the effect of individuals’ choices between pro-environmental versus pro-safety behavior, while considering the role of media exposure. We test our hypotheses in China, where both food-safety and environment are major issues and are widely covered by the media and government reports. Based on a quasi-experiments and survey questionnaires focused on attitudes towards disposable chopsticks, we find that individuals form cognitive perceptions in ways that either have stronger positive environmental or safety stereotypes. Based on these stereotypes, they either believe that reusable chopsticks are more environmentally friendly or that disposable chopsticks are safer, each impacting individuals’ choices differently. In addition, awareness of information related to the environment augments the link between environmental stereotypes and pro-environmental behavior, while having no influence on the effect of safety stereotypes on pro-safety behavior. On the other hand, while awareness of safety-related information accentuates the link between safety-related stereotypes and pro-safety behavior, it has no impact on the effect of environmental stereotypes on pro-environmental behavior.
Highlights
Scholars [1,2,3] have been using the theory of planned behavior to investigate people’s environmental behavior
While prior studies look at the effect of media exposure on pro-environmental behavior as related to the effectiveness of policies, we suggest that awareness of information congruent with individuals’ stereotypical cognition is a complementary factor to individuals’ environmental and safety cognition and we investigate its effect on the relationship between each type of stereotyping and pro-environmental and pro-safety behavior
When applied to the context of chopsticks, we argue that decades of policy publicity in China appealing for the reduction in the use of disposable chopsticks and highlighting their impact on the environment has formed the stereotype in consumers that reusable chopsticks are more environmentally friendly
Summary
Scholars [1,2,3] have been using the theory of planned behavior to investigate people’s environmental behavior. The theory of planned behavior [4] posits that attitudes toward behavior, subjective norms, as well as perceived behavioral controls, together shape an individual’s behavioral intention, and in turn influence an individual’s behavior. Drawing on the concept of stereotypes [5], the present research looks at and explores this new rationale for inveterate environmentally unfriendly behavior. We integrate and extend the environmental literature by using positive stereotyping in the environmental cognition literature to examine the predictive effect of stereotypical cognition of environment and safety on behavior, and probe deeper into the influence of awareness (of environmental and safety issues) on behavior
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