Understanding pro-environmental intentions through growth, competitiveness, and concern

Abstract

The effects of market liberalization and the social institutions contained within are increasingly necessary to understand. The purpose of this paper is to expand this understanding by examining neoliberal institutional variables (i.e., belief in economic growth and individual competitiveness) on pro-environmental behavior. To study this, we use two countries: one that has recently experienced high economic growth (China) and one that has recently experienced low economic growth (Japan), as a moderator variable. Further, environmental concern is proposed to mediate the moderation. The proposed conditional mediation is supported. Findings suggest that citizens with a desire for additional economic growth, in countries with large historical growth, have high environmental concern. Further, citizens with high individual competitiveness, in low historical growth countries, have low environmental concern. However, citizens with high environmental concern have high environmental intentions, regardless of current country growth. Implications for management and sustainability are then given.