Influences of Problem Awareness, Awareness of Consequences and Ascription of Responsibility on Consumer's Personal Norm to Prevent Water Wastage Behavior

Abstract

The issue of consumer water wastage is a serious issue in Malaysia. A reason for wastage behavior, particularly in Penang state, may be because water is a public good and the population enjoys paying low price for this natural resource. Wastage reflects not only the population's unsustainable behavior; it also reflects the difficult position faced by water providers in managing the nation's increasing demand and related costs. The aim of this study is to identify whether problem awareness (PA), awareness of consequences (AC) and ascription of responsibility (AR) influence an individual's personal norm (PN) in preventing water wastage behavior as theorized in the norm activation model (NAM). NAM is a popular theory applied by researchers in the investigation of individual pro-environmentalist behaviors. The study distributed a total of 500 questionnaires online and managed to collect 262 usable responses. The study respondents were mainly from Malaysian households who pay for water they consume. According to NAM, all moral norms factors (PA, AC, AR) are proposed to influence individual's personal norm. This study treats personal norm as a proxy variable for a consumer's pro-environmental behavior (water wastage prevention). Results from Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) analyses show significant relations to Malaysian consumers' personal norm by all three moral obliged factors tested. In addition, AC also influences consumers' AR. From these findings, the government and water providers will obtain insights into how Malaysian household consumers have developed their personal norms on prevention of water wastage behavior. It is now known that Malaysian consumers' moral obligations, including problem awareness, awareness of consequences and ascription of responsibility, play important roles in shaping their personal norms in terms of the prevention of water wastage. From these insights, state governments and providers like Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang could use these moral obligations when planning for educational campaigns for the public at large to accept changing their water wastage behavior for the better.