Abstract
This study aims to explore the factors that influence business travel decisions of university staff, in particular the extent and ways in which they are willing to reduce emission-intensive air travel, and the personal and structural barriers to such behavior change. Three strategies to reduce air travel were investigated: abstaining from particular events, substituting travel through virtual participation and mode shifting to ground-based public transport. We tested the effects of (1) specific decision factors for engaging in long-distance travel, choosing specific modes of travel and choosing virtual solutions; (2) former travel activities; (3) postponed trips due to COVID-19; and (4) sociodemographic factors, on the willingness of individuals to reduce air travel in a sample of university employees. We calculated regression models for the three strategies and added a qualitative analysis of open-ended comments. Former travel behavior as well as pro-environmental considerations play significant roles, influencing the willingness of employees to change their business travel behavior. Furthermore, we found that willingness to reduce air travel depends on the scope of behavior change. Although travel behavior is unevenly distributed across different subgroups, sociodemographic factors only play a minor role in the regression models. The present study adds to the limited body of quantitative research on the reduction potential of academic air travel, presenting an examination of university staff's willingness to change their long-distance travel behavior. Implications for university polices are discussed.
Highlights
An increasingly broad range of organizations is making efforts to incorporate different aspects of sustainability to their operations (Lozano and Garcia, 2020)
The influence of COVID-19, and the environmentally friendly self-image were included in all three models, they differed in terms of the decision factors considered and in terms of the travel shares
This effect is positive in models II and III, whereas a negative relationship can be found in model I: The higher the share of air travel on overall business travel in the past, the lower the willingness to reduce air travel by abstaining in the future
Summary
An increasingly broad range of organizations is making efforts to incorporate different aspects of sustainability to their operations (Lozano and Garcia, 2020). Universities arguably were among the first to do so, acknowledging their role in promoting sustainable development from the 1970s onwards. These efforts were intensified around the turn of the millennium, when strategies for higher education in fostering sustainable development, as well as proposals for sustainable universities were designed (Keniry, 1995; Creighton, 1998; van Weenen, 2000). The climate impact of air travel goes beyond CO2 emissions, which significantly increases its effect on radiative forcing (Lee et al, 2021). Only few universities have started to tackle emissions from business travel, in particular business air travel. Only few universities have started to tackle emissions from business travel, in particular business air travel. Glover et al (2018), studying Australian universities, found that 53% ignore the topic of air travel altogether and another 16% recognize it without intervening
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