The Green Gender Gap: Environmental attitudes and pro-environmental vote choice across Europe

Games, gamified environments and apps are celebrated as new tools to attract citizens and stakeholders for collective action and improve public participation processes. A better understanding of preferences and enjoyment and the relation of players’ motivations, (environmental) attitudes and player types could support decision making in game design. Based on empirical research, this chapter explores the relation of intrinsic motivation, environmental attitude and player types and the degree to which different forms of motivation to participate relate to those player types. Direct relations between intrinsic motivation, game enjoyment and player type classes could not be confirmed yet by the data yielded in the research, though game literature would make such links quite plausible. However, the research illustrates that serious games with environmental narratives work as entrance points to build up environmental awareness, interest and knowledge, also for citizens with initially low(er) intrinsic motivation or environmental attitude. However, a gender gap in the data reveals that women immerse themselves more strongly in the environmental, ‘green’ game narratives. Thus, serious game targeting sustainability and environmental topics might consider men as hard to reach groups, requesting particular attention during game design and game testing.

Purpose This study examines why consumers are “more attitudinally green than behaviorally green,” and what factors influence intention to adopt sustainable 3D-printed clothing. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected on Prolific.com on a global scale through a self-administered survey. There are 221 completed responses. A completely randomized design is utilized to control demographic variation. Data were analyzed using the SmartPLS software and structural equation modeling-partial least square (SEM-PLS) technique. Findings The findings reveal that while consumers’ attitudes toward environmental ramifications are strong, these attitudes do not directly influence their intention to adopt 3D-printed clothing. Instead, these environmental attitudes exert their influence through the four constructs of diffusion of innovation (DoI) theory: compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. Furthermore, this research operationalizes ease of use to replace DoI’s conceptually less straightforward complexity, and imitate others to represent DoI’s ambiguous observability constructs, respectively. In sum, the results underscore the efficacy of DoI theory in fostering positive inclinations toward adopting innovative, sustainable 3D-printed clothing. Research limitations/implications Our results verify that environmental protection attitudes, neither product-specific nor general, directly impact the intention to adopt 3D-printed clothing. Their effects are fully mediated (operationalized) by the DoI constructs that tie into 3D-printed clothing, verifying our hypothesis that product-specific benefits are crucial to turning attitudinal green to behavior green, especially for innovative products new to consumers. Future experiments and studies should apply the proposed mediated attitudes in environmental protection (MAEP) model in other contexts to further validate the dual and mediated attitudinal effect. Practical implications The results support an applicable roadmap for the fashion and apparel industry to minimize the gap between attitudinal and behavioral green and engage consumers. The benefits of environmentally sustainable products to consumers are essential for effectively converting attitudinal green into behavioral green. Social implications The fashion and apparel industry must remember that environmental protection attitudes do not automatically turn into consumption behaviors. Specifically, the DoI factors incentivize environmentally concerned consumers who hesitate to commit to sustainable fashion (SF) consumption, helping achieve measurable results in SF consumption. Originality/value Drawing upon the DoI theory, this research contributes to the SF literature by proposing a MAEP model to examine the green attitude-behavior gap in the context of 3D-printed clothing. The results prove the effectiveness of the proposed mediated environmental protection attitudes and DoI’s constructs.

The Malaysian 2021 Budget reflects the government’s commitment to spurring the green economy with the emphasis to drive public awareness towards environmental conservation agenda despite the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it was recognized that contradictions exist between attitude and customer behavior balancing between lifestyle and environmental issues. Thus, the inconsistencies had created gaps between the two consumer interaction styles which would not be beneficial for market institutions and their customers. Hence, it is important to investigate how consumers interact with the representatives of marketing institutions with the customers’ environmental attitude lifestyle to understand and narrow the green purchasing behavior gap for the survival of the business organizations and the satisfaction of the consumers. Therefore, for this study, a newly developed measurement tool, Environmental Quality Awareness (EQA) was utilized to test the assumptions and to recommend appropriate solutions to narrow the attitude-behavior gap. The research collected 321 Malaysian respondents who are aware of and used household technology products related to the green economy. The data was analyzed using Partial Least Square - Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) method. The result indicated that 70% of the EQA framework integrated constructs are supported by the relationship of environmental quality awareness and environmental attitude towards green purchasing. The remainder of 30% of the framework shows a non-supportive hypothesis on the relationship of environmental quality awareness towards green purchasing. Hence, the study indicates that when people are aware of environmental quality and possess an environmental attitude towards sustainable performance, they will eventually lead to trust and purchase green products, thus hence supporting the green economy drive.

Despite increasing global awareness of environmental issues, a persistent gap exists between positive environmental attitude and their actual green purchasing behavior—a phenomenon widely known as the attitude-behavior gap. This study addresses this gap by drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to investigate how inward (IEA) and outward environmental attitude (OEA) influence green product purchase intention (GPPI) through the mediating role of perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE). This study extends the knowledge by introducing eco-literacy and green product perceptions (green concept, hardness, stigma, readiness, and responsibility) as boundary conditions that either enable or hinder this mediated relationship. Using purposive sampling, 419 responses were collected from Pakistani consumers with varying levels of green engagement. The results demonstrated that for IEA, eco-literacy, green hardness, and readiness significantly moderated the mediated relationship of PCE on GPPI. For OEA, eco-literacy, and all five green product perceptions influenced the effect of PCE on GPPI. By expanding TPB with these novel mediators and moderators, this study contributes a more comprehensive framework for understanding and addressing the green gap. The findings offer practical implications for policymakers and marketers to design targeted educational campaigns and consumer-centric green policies that address both internal and external motivation and barriers to sustainable consumption.

Objectives This article explores gender differences in attitudes about the seriousness of the environment as a problem in China using the “2008 China Survey.” Methods We use generalized ordered logit models to analyze survey respondents’ environmental attitudes. Results Our results indicate that there is indeed a “gender gap” in environmental attitudes in China, but the pattern is reversed from what has been generally found in previous work conducted in the United States and Europe. Chinese men, not women, show a greater concern about environmental problems and the seriousness of the environmental degradation in China. Further, we find that this gender gap is based largely in the substantial economic and educational differences between men and women in contemporary China. Conclusions This study emphasizes the mediating influence of socioeconomic variables in explaining gender attitudes toward the environment in China. Our findings suggest that in different contexts, women may be faced with difficult decisions between immediate economic necessities and long-term environmental concerns. The observed environmental gender gap in China will likely persist unless further economic development results in improved access to education and economic conditions for Chinese women.

Environmentalism undercover: The environmental dimension of public support for domestic water charges

Younger generations are often portrayed as more environmentally conscious than older cohorts, yet research on their pro-environmental attitudes remains inconclusive. Using Mann–Whitney U tests, this study compares Millennials and Generation Z across five psychological constructs related to pro-environmental tourist behaviour. It also examines the antecedents of personal norms – a sense of moral obligation to protect the environment – through hierarchical regression on the combined sample. The generational comparison shows that Millennials feel more empowered, display stronger perceived social norms, and report a stronger moral obligation for environmentally friendly travel than Generation Z. The regression analysis identifies perceived behavioural control as the strongest predictor of personal norms, followed by psychological empowerment and awareness of consequences. Generation, included as a control variable, does not significantly influence the formation of personal norms. Notably, while 65% of respondents report high personal norms, fewer than 3% choose to learn more about sustainable travel when given the opportunity, showing signs of the well-known gap between environmental attitudes and behaviour. The study contributes to generational research, expands an adapted Norm Activation Model, and highlights the importance of fostering a sense of control and empowerment. It also underscores the need for careful attention to communication format, framing and timing.

System justification refers to a psychological tendency to maintain certainty, security, and solidarity through motivated perceptions of the status quo and the extant socioeconomic system as beneficial, fair, stable, and legitimate, especially in response to dependency and threat. System justification impedes efforts to address societal challenges, and in particular gives rise to denial, resistance, and inaction in the face of climate change and environmental problems. Women chronically engage in less system justification than men, and this difference partially explains women’s greater willingness to acknowledge ecological problems and risks and to engage in actions that are beneficial for the environment. We demonstrate that reframing environmental messages as consistent with upholding the established way of life and the well-being of our society gives rise to increased support for environmental efforts on the part of those who are especially motivated to justify the system and can therefore help to narrow the ideological gap in environmental attitudes and behaviors.

Understanding and recognising environmentally-friendly behaviour are vital in achieving the Sustainability Development Goals and driving the economy for countries and producers of environmentally-friendly goods. Nevertheless, various stakeholders have expressed concern about the existing green gap, which greatly hinders their marketing efforts. This situation persists as mainstream research investigates people’s purchasing intentions, under the notion that the intention to perform a specific behaviour would generally predict the actual behaviour. The key argument of this study is that examining the actual consumption behaviour of organic foods is the ideal approach towards investigating purchase intention drivers as a proxy for consumption. In response to the green gap, the theory of planned behaviour is expanded by including the dimension of temporal orientation, i.e., a future orientation that has an influential but unrecognised effect on many human behaviours. In contrast to the prevalent operationalisation of attitude, the term is defined as a product-specific attitude which is markedly dissimilar to the environmental attitude in its orientations. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling technique was used to analyse the research model. The findings indicate that while product-specific attitudes and perceived availability positively affect organic food consumption, subjective norms do not. Additionally, the data implies that product-specific attitudes are stronger when future orientation is high.

By appealing to public concern over environmental issues, Green parties have emerged to gain secure positions in several party systems. However, in Canada, we know very little about why people support the Green Party. This research note draws upon the Canadian Election Study (CES) to explore the ways in which demographic factors, personality traits and individual environmentalism impact vote choice. Theorizing Green Party support as a form of pro-environmental behaviour, we build a model that tests the impact of demographic factors and personality traits as mediated through environmental attitudes. It finds that, while pro-environmental policy attitudes are the strongest predictor of Green Party support, several demographic factors and personality traits—specifically conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness and extraversion—have an effect.

The world today is facing multiple environmental crises due to the reckless and thoughtless exploitation of natural resources by humans. There is an urgent need to foster environmental awareness among individuals to ensure the conservation, protection, and sustainability of our environment. As a result, environmental education has been integrated into school curricula from an early stage. This study explores environmental awareness among secondary school students, comparing those in residential and non-residential settings, with a focus on gender and rural-urban differences. Environmental education plays a pivotal role in fostering sustainable behaviors and informed ecological practices. The study utilized a normative survey method and a self-designed environmental awareness questionnaire to assess the knowledge of 600 students across various demographic categories. The research findings reveal no significant difference in environmental awareness between residential and non-residential students. However, gender-based differences were observed, with female students consistently demonstrating higher environmental awareness than their male counterparts, particularly in residential settings. Additionally, the study identified a more pronounced gender gap in rural non-residential schools, where girls outperformed boys. These findings suggest that while residency status does not directly influence environmental awareness, gender and geographical context significantly impact students’ environmental attitudes. The study highlights the need for targeted educational interventions to engage male students, particularly in rural settings, and recommends curriculum modifications that address the specific needs of both genders. Educational policies should focus on fostering inclusive, community-based learning environments that encourage environmental literacy for all students, regardless of residency.

ObjectiveThe present study attempts to shed some light on the environmental attitudes gap between the two genders in Germany and the Netherlands.MethodsThe article employs three alternative indicators of environmental attitudes, namely, “environmental values,” “environmental support,” and “environmental concern.” By using decomposition models, the underlying factors and their relative contribution in the observed gender gap in environmentalism are examined.ResultsThe empirical results indicate that females exhibit higher pro‐environmental values but less environmental support and concerns than males. The findings are quite sensitive to the sample and the indicator examined.ConclusionThe study contributes to the literature by examining not only the driving factors of gender environmental attitudes but their relative contribution as well. It seems that it is mainly differences in behavioral, psychological, and cultural responses between the two genders that shape the observed environmental attitudes gap and not differences in observed individual characteristics per se.

Explaining cross-national variation in the climate change concern gender gap: A research note

ABSTRACTWomen express stronger environmental concern and more pro‐active climate change attitudes, but whether gender differences translate to gaps in policy preferences is less known. Attitude gaps might not map directly to policy preferences since other considerations and preferences will come into play when voters face the complexity of policy choices. We study this issue by exploring support for offshore wind projects, which involves making trade‐offs between different societal, economic, environmental, and climate change concerns. We conduct a conjoint experiment where respondents are forced to make these trade‐offs, thereby allowing us to examine whether gender gaps emerge when respondents make explicit choices. We find that despite substantive gender gaps in self‐reported attitudes, support for the most climate‐friendly attributes of projects are not systematically higher for women compared to men. Our results imply that one cannot necessarily make inferences about support for climate policies from gender differences in environmental attitudes and concerns. In addition, our findings suggest that gender identity operates in more complex ways than traditional binary categories suggest.

This study aims to examine the levels of environmental concern and environmentally conscious consumer behaviour among individuals engaged in outdoor sports, within the framework of a demographic segmentation approach. The sample of the research consists of 221 professional and serious leisure-level outdoor sports participants from various regions in Turkey involved in different types of outdoor sports. Data were collected through an online survey using the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) and Environmentally Conscious Consumer Behavior (ECCB) scales. Statistical analyses, including independent samples t-test, ANOVA, correlation, multiple regression, and two-step cluster analysis, were conducted using SPSS software. The findings indicate that participation in outdoor sports supports both environmental concern and environmentally conscious consumption tendencies. According to multiple regression analysis, environmental concern and age significantly predict environmentally conscious consumer behaviour, whereas demographic factors such as income and education have limited effects. Two-step cluster analysis revealed that individuals over the age of 30 with higher income and education levels are more willing to engage in environmentally friendly consumption. The results demonstrate that outdoor sports play a significant role in shaping environmental attitudes; however, the phenomenon of the “green gap” between attitudes and behaviours persists.