Mind (for) the water: An indirect relationship between mindfulness and water conservation behavior

Abstract

AbstractA growing number of studies have linked mindfulness with the adoption of environmentally friendly behaviors. We aim to contribute to this emergent research by putting forward a model in which the relationship between mindfulness and a specific pro‐environmental behavior, water conservation, is indirect. In this pursuit, we draw on the hierarchical model for the influence of psychological characteristics on individuals' behaviors. We propose that the relationship between mindfulness and water conservation is mediated by environmental beliefs, namely water utilitarian beliefs, and consumer abilities, specifically water‐related perceived consumer effectiveness. To collect the data, we relied on a pretested self‐report questionnaire that was distributed in a Portuguese municipality. We retained the responses from 876 individuals, for a net response rate of 54.8%. The research model was tested with structural equation modeling. The results indicate that mindfulness is negatively related to water utilitarian beliefs, that these are negatively related to perceived consumer effectiveness, which, in turn, is positively associated with water conservation behavior. In addition to these direct relationships, the results show that mindfulness is indirectly related to water conservation behavior and to perceived consumer effectiveness, and that water utilitarian beliefs are indirectly related to water conservation behavior. These novel results are used to derive managerial implications.