Risk, efficacy, and the moderating role of policy effectiveness in microplastic reduction intentions

In the context of climate change communication, this study explores the process through which exposure to media messages about a risk leads to recommended behavioral intentions. We propose a model of this process based on the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) and the Risk Perception Attitude (RPA) framework. Our model analyzes how risk perception, negative emotion, and efficacy beliefs mediate and moderate the effects of media messages on people’s intention to engage in pro-environmental behaviors. A national survey among 1,000 adults in South Korea was analyzed, and the fitting of PROCESS Models 4 and 15 yielded four main findings. First, media exposure was directly and positively related to risk perception, negative emotion, and pro-environmental behavioral intention. However, the significant relation between media exposure and behavioral intention was partly conditional upon efficacy beliefs. Second, risk perception and negative emotion were also significantly related to behavioral intention conditional upon efficacy beliefs. Third, efficacy beliefs significantly moderated the relation between risk perception and behavioral intention, but not between negative emotion and behavioral intention. Fourth, efficacy beliefs served as a moderator for the indirect effect of media exposure on behavioral intention via risk perception and negative emotion.

Environmental pollution and ecological damage caused by human activities have attracted widespread attention in recent years, and while citizens’ environmental awareness and intentions have increased, their actions may not necessarily change accordingly. This study aims to understand the intention–behavior gap, based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), by exploring the relationship between intention and pro-environmental behavior on the new waste sorting policy in China. The structural model of extended TPB was tested using sample data from 3113 residents of Changsha, each of whom was asked to complete a two-stage survey. Results demonstrated that perceived policy effectiveness and actual behavioral control positively affect behavioral intention, implementation intention, and pro-environmental behavior. Among them, the actual behavioral control of residents was found to be the most influential factor on behavioral intention and implementation intention, followed by residents’ perceived policy effectiveness. Moreover, behavioral intention and implementation intention mediate the relationship between antecedents and pro-environmental behavior. These findings imply that people with high-level perceptions of policy effectiveness, strong control over actual behavior, strong behavioral intentions, and strong implementation intentions are more likely to engage in pro-environmental behavior. The findings suggest that factors such as perceived policy effectiveness and actual behavioral control should be considered when implementing new policies and campaigns for waste sorting and management.

New pathway exploring the effectiveness of waste recycling policy: A quasi-experiment on the effects of perceived policy effectiveness

Our research framework, built on the norm activation model (NAM), was designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the formation of consumers’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions in an eco-friendly coffee shop. We employed the NAM to test its mediating effect of personal environmental norms (PEN), social environmental norms (SEN), and ascription of responsibility (AR) and the moderating effect of the overall green image (OGI) on pro-environmental behavioral intentions. Data were collected through a survey of 530 customers who frequently visited a coffee shop in Korea, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the research hypotheses. The findings generally supported the hypothesized associations of the study variables within our proposed theoretical framework (PEN, SEN, and AR in order of the mediating effect on pro-environmental behavioral intentions) and confirmed OGI’s moderating effect. In addition, the study’s results have important (1) theoretical and (2) practical implications for the environment. (1) They expand the original NAM by explaining the effect of the relationship between SEN and PEN on pro-environmental customer behavioral intentions (PCBI) and confirm the mediating effect of the NAM (SEN, PEN, AR) on PCBI, as demonstrated in previous studies. (2) Moreover, the findings herein may encourage coffee shops to participate in the prevention of environmental problems by restricting the use of products such as plastic coffee cups and straws.

Ecological experiential learning and tourists' pro-environmental behavior intentions: The mediating roles of awe and nature connection

Residents’ behavior is the result of the combined effect of external environment factors and internal psychological factors. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the attitude–behavior–condition (ABC) theory, this study aims to explore the impact of policy support on residents’ psychological factors and proenvironmental behavior. This study developed an extended TPB and ABC model and replaced the behavioral intention in the TPB model with implementation intentions to enhance the ability of the variables to explain and predict proenvironmental behavior. The longitudinal research method was adopted to collect data through a two-stage questionnaire survey of 1145 Shanghai residents. Results demonstrated that perceived policy effectiveness has a significant and positive impact on attitude, implementation intention, and proenvironmental behavior. This means that proenvironmental behavior tends to appear in people with a high perception of policy effectiveness, positive attitude, and strong implementation intention. Moreover, this study points out for the first time that high waste management knowledge weakens the relationship between perceived policy effectiveness and attitude. For residents with high waste management knowledge, the effect of simple policy publicity is limited. The findings suggest that the government should increase the breadth and depth of policy support and policy publicity to cover the entire waste management process.

Using a Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) framework, this study examined whether factual colon cancer information is a meaningful source of exercise motivation for relatives of patients with colon cancer. One hundred sixty-six inactive relatives were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions: PMT group (intervention); and non-PMT group (attention control). At baseline (T1) participants completed demographic information, a questionnaire designed to assess their beliefs toward exercise and colon cancer as well as their exercise intentions. At T2 (one week following T1) participants watched one of two DVD videos that were created for the study. The intervention DVD contained exercise and colon cancer information that was yoked within the four major components of PMT: perceived vulnerability (PV); perceived severity (PS); response efficacy (RE); and self-efficacy (SE), while the attention control DVD contained general diet and cancer information. Immediately following watching the DVD, participants completed the same measures as in T1. Participants assigned to the PMT intervention group showed significant improvement in PV, RE, SE and exercise intentions, whereas participants assigned to the attention control group showed significant improvement only in RE. RE, SE, and PS made significant and unique contributions to prediction of exercise intention. Overall, the results of the present study demonstrate that a single exposure media intervention grounded in a PMT framework can change individuals' exercise and colon cancer beliefs, as well as change their exercise intentions. Implications of these findings and direction for future research are discussed.

Background: Identifying factors that may influence waste separation behavior can lead to more effective waste separation, better recycling plans in a community, and more effective and efficient waste management interventions. The purpose of the survey was to identify the key factors behind such behavior.Methods: The scientific inquiry was cross-sectional in nature, took place in Tabriz, Iran, and employed multistage random sampling to recruit the study’s 360 participants. The data collection process took place between September 2018 and February 2019. A Theory of Planned Behavior-driven questionnaire was developed by the research team for the purpose of data collection. The structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was deployed for data analysis.Results: The structural equation modeling of the data showed the most important determinants of behavioral intention were perceived behavioral control (β = 0.39, p < 0.05), moral commitments (β = 0.19, p < 0.05), and perceived policy effectiveness (β = 0.12, p < 0.05). The strongest determinants of waste separation behavior were behavioral intention (β = 0.29, p < 0.05) and perceived behavioral control (β = 0.25, p < 0.05). In addition, age-group and gender differences were statistically related to waste separation behavior significantly (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Recycling investors and other stakeholders should focus on perceived behavioral control and intention in designing and implementing waste separation programs.

Exploring consumers’ usage intention of reusable express packaging: An extended norm activation model

IntroductionPrimary emotions among the populace during global health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, provide valuable insights. Guided by appraisal theories of emotions, this study explores emotional segmentation by mapping primary emotions related to COVID-19 and investigating their impact on cognitive and behavioral outcomes, including risk perceptions, efficacy beliefs, behavioral intentions, prevention behaviors, and information seeking/avoidance.MethodsStudy 1 surveyed young adults (N = 1,368) to investigate their emotions about COVID-19 and examine the effect of these emotions on risk perceptions, efficacy beliefs, and behavioral intentions regarding mask-wearing and physical distancing. Study 2 replicated Study 1 with a quota-based national sample of U.S. adults (N = 8,454) and further tested the effect of primary emotions on preventive behaviors and information seeking/avoidance.ResultsResults indicated that most people experienced negative emotions, such as sadness, anger, and anxiety. These emotions were associated with varying levels of risk perceptions, efficacy beliefs, behavioral intentions, actual behaviors, and information seeking/avoidance. Notably, across both studies, anxious individuals demonstrated more favorable health-related perceptions and behavioral outcomes compared to those experiencing anger.DiscussionThese findings offer insights into the emotional experiences of individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight the significant impact of these emotions on risk perceptions and health-related behaviors. Understanding these emotional responses can inform public health strategies and communication efforts during health crises.

The literature has identified many important drivers of climate change mitigation policy support behaviour (PS), such as perceived policy effectiveness (PE) and perceived adverse impacts of climate change (PI). However, it rarely explains the mechanism by which PE drives PS. Even though the literature warns against the over-use of PI in climate change communication, which is commonly known as the “fear appeal” approach, an explaining theoretical framework is seldom provided. Moreover, the literature also often neglects the extent to which the fundamental characteristics of mitigation initiatives affect policy preferences. This limitation derives from inadequate examination of the nature of the policies, as was as the deeper factorial structures of the behaviour’s determinants. Synchronising the social dilemma literature with major theories in the field such as the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the Risk Perception theory, the Extended Parallel Process Model, and the Risk Perception Attitude framework, this paper proposes an analytical framework that helps explain the variation in PS across the policies’ characteristics. The framework also suggests a mediating mechanism through which PE drives PS, and a moderating perspective, which may help theoretically verify the “fear appeal” caution. This paper also suggests that in addition to effectiveness, perceived policy feasibility should be included as an important aspect of individuals’ policy evaluation to explain PS. Discussions and further research suggestions are also offered.

Different from the previous studies on social and economic impacts, this study focused on the assessment of psychological factors on farmers' application of organic manure. We explored the psychological evaluation based on the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB), which consists of attitude (AT), perceived behavior control (PBC), subjective norm, moral norm (MN), environmental risk perception (ERP), and perceived policy effectiveness (PPE). Further, we explored the moderating effects of PPE. We studied 235 tea growers in China to verify the model and analyzed the psychological factors in their decisions regarding organic manure application. The results showed that by incorporating psychological factors, such as MN, ERP, and PPE, the extended TPB's ability to explain farmers' intention to apply organic manure increased by 6%. The results also confirmed that psychological factors (ERP, PPE, AT, PBC, and MN) positively influenced farmers' inclination to use organic manure. Finally, PPE was found to have a negative mediating effect on attitude and intention. Given the influence of these psychological factors (PBC, ERP, and PPE), we discovered that increasing the policy publicity, raising the policy subsidy, and promoting the popularization of sustainable agriculture and environmental awareness, are essential to encourage farmers' utilization of organic manure.

In this article I combine two existing policy theories, institutional rational choice and the Advocacy Coalition Framework, to explain actor perceptions of the effectiveness of public policies targeting common-pool resource dilemmas in coastal watersheds. Survey data from estuaries with and without the USEPA’s National Estuary Program provides evidence for two main hypotheses. First, perceived policy effectiveness is a function of “collective-action beliefs”: beliefs about situational variables that determine the benefits and transaction costs of collective action within the estuary action arena. Second, the effects of policy-core beliefs and institutional structure on perceived policy effectiveness are interdependent. In particular, governance institutions have a favorable effect on perceived policy effectiveness among political actors whose policy-core beliefs are congruent with the structure of the institution.

Investigating the determinants of Singaporean citizens' attitudes toward marine litter pollution control: A policy acceptance model

The Chinese government is promoting a waste classification policy to solve the increasingly serious issue of cities being besieged by waste. Only few studies investigate whether residents’ understanding of garbage classification policy has an impact on their garbage classification behaviour and the nature of such impact. The purposes of this study are twofold: first, to explore conceptually the mechanism behind any moderating effects of perceived policy effectiveness (PPE) on waste classification and, second, to examine empirically if and how PPE influences the relationships between attitude (ATT), subjective norm (SN), perceived behaviour control (PBC), awareness of consequence (AC) and waste classification intention (WCI). The conceptual model of the study is developed by combining insights from the theory of planned behaviour, norm activation theory and value–belief–norm theory. A total of 351 questionnaires were administered in person to households in Bengbu, China. The results based on structural equation modelling with partial least squares show that PPE negatively moderates the relationship between AC and WCI. AC is more strongly related with the intention to classify waste when PPE is weaker. Likewise, when PPE is higher, people’s awareness of consequences becomes less important for WCI. The findings have significant implications in policymakers’ developing guidelines and offer a framework for implementing more effective waste classification policy.