Striving for Sustainability: A Study of Water Consumption Behavior of Households in Lahore Division

Abstract

Amid the escalating global water scarcity concerns, exacerbated by increasing demand characterized by unsustainable water consumption practices, this study addresses the imperative need to identify the factors that promotes the sustainable water consumption behavior among households. Our research builds upon the theoretical premises of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), proposing a unique model that incorporates consumers’ water-saving preferences as a moderating factor to address the intention-behavior gap. In order to accomplish the proposed study objective, we approached 1552 households living in the residential premises of Lahore Division. We applied Partial Least Square – Structural Equational Modelling (PLS-SEM) to empirically analyze the results. Our research reveals that consumer’s sustainable water consumption intention and water saving preferences are important factors that promotes the sustainable water consumption behavior among the households. Moreover, the study unveils the moderating role of these preferences in reinforcing the relationship between intention and behavior, effectively bridging the intention-behavior gap. Additionally, our research identifies the indirect influence of consumers’ water-saving attitudes and perceived behavioral control on shaping sustainable water consumption behavior. Importantly, the study demonstrates a substantial improvement in the predictive accuracy of TPB with the inclusion of water-saving preferences as a moderating factor. These insights hold significant implications for devising interventions to promote sustainable water consumption behavior among households.