Public participation behavior in “Internet plus tree-planting” in China: A comparison between government-led and enterprise-led modes

Abstract

Among the existing modes of “Internet plus tree-planting” in China, the government-led mode is represented by “Internet plus national voluntary tree planting”, and the enterprise-led mode is represented by “Ant Forest”. Now, the public enthusiasm for participating in both modes has declined. We investigated the factors influencing public participation in “Internet plus tree-planting” activities of the two modes, with a view to providing better suggestions for solving the dilemma of public participation. This paper examines the factors that influence public participation in “Internet plus tree-planting” of these two different modes. We combine the theory of planned behavior (TPB) with Knowledge-Attitude-Practice (KAP). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used to explore the formation of public intention and behavior practice for the two modes and compares the differences between them. Results show that subjective norm has the greatest effect on public participation in national voluntary tree planting but has no effect on public participation in Ant Forest. On the contrary, the total effect of outcome efficacy on public participation behavior has the least weight in national voluntary tree planting, while the conclusion is the opposite for Ant Forest. This paper contributes to researchers' understanding of the two participation behaviors. In addition, suggestions on promoting integrated forms of the two modes were proposed for policymakers: (1) Keep channels of communication open and attract emerging forces. (2) Popularize environmental knowledge and improve environmental protection literacy. (3) Enrich interactive content and improve incentive policies. (4) Create an integration platform and foster two-way linkage between government and enterprises.