Attitude-behavior Relationship Research Articles

Vested Interest Theory as a Framework for Understanding Anthropogenic Climate Change Risk Perceptions

ABSTRACT Climate change due to anthropogenic activities is contributing to the systematic warming of Earth. A warming planet represents an existential threat to humanity, contributing to the increased frequency and magnitude of multiple natural hazards. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) notes that time is running out to create meaningful change to avert climate-related consequences. This research posits Vested Interest Theory (VIT) as a potentially useful framework for assessing attitudes and risk perceptions associated with anthropogenic climate change (ACC). Vested Interest Theory mediates the attitude-behavior relationship where highly vested individuals are more likely to behave in attitudinally-consistent ways. Vestedness is conceptualized as five distinct and observable variables: salience, certainty, immediacy, self-efficacy, and response-efficacy. To test VIT’s efficacy in this context, a survey was conducted with participants crowdsourced from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform (N = 1053). Participants responded to items designed to measure their individual vestedness in ACC consequences, risk perceptions, and behavioral intentions. This initial investigation shows that VIT’s constituent variables predict consequential amounts of observed variance in critical variables including risk perception, perceived event severity, and behavioral intentions related to ACC hazard mitigation. The results support the use of VIT as a framework for understanding attitude-behavior relationships associated with ACC mitigation. Based on these findings, we argue that VIT can also serve as a valuable message design framework to motivate ACC-related mitigation actions.

Indian voters’ attitude and behavior toward a political brand for producing green products: a mediation model

This study explores the attitude–behavior relationship among voters for political party brands that use a sustainable or green marketing approach. A structural equation modeling is used to analyze data collected from 1771 respondents who are registered Indian voters in this case. A positive attitude toward a political brand is compared to intentions to vote for the same brand. According to the findings, political brands create a more environmentally friendly product in the form of green actions because doing so encourages consumers to think favorably of the political brand, which results in them voting for it. As a result, authors are able to identify a positive attitude–behavior relationship for political brands among voters.

Environmental Perception: A Comparison between Southwestern U.S. and Honduras Agricultural-related College Students

Understanding agricultural students' environmental perception is necessary to design meaningful interventions to enhance their environmental awareness. This study aims to understand and compare undergraduate students' environmental behavior and perceptions in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at a Southwestern United States (US) university and an agricultural university in Honduras (HN). The MANOVA and descriptive statistics show a large effect on the attitude-behavior relationship. Overall, HN students presented higher scores in attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions of environmental education at their university than students from the U.S. university. The most influential behavioral factors for students are financial incentives, friends, and people who take action.

The influence of life events on the attitude-behavior relationship among household couples: A longitudinal study

The present study aims to examine the extent to which the attitude-behavior relationship is affected by life events for household couples by combining the mobility biography approach and habit discontinuity theory. Using data from the Netherlands, we applied bias-adjusted three-step multigroup latent class transition models that allowed us to make comparisons between couples for latent classes and their transitions. We identified two classes for cars (car-lover and car-dispensable), three classes for trains and bus/tram/metro (BTM) (train/BTM-enthusiast, train-potential/BTM-captive, and non-train-user/BTM-haters), and three classes for cycling (cycling-lover, −enthusiast, and -avoider) based on travel frequency and attitude. The results show that gender differences exist across latent classes within each travel mode. Men were more likely to be car lovers, non-train users, and BTM-haters, whereas women were more likely to be cycling lovers, train-potential, and BTM-captives. Personal and household life events influence the travel pattern transition process, and these impacts differ by gender. Men are more likely to switch to the car-lover cluster than women after the occurrence of life events, such as childbirth and car acquisition. People may adjust their attitudes and travel behaviors gradually and to a limited extent; thus, further studies with multiple waves are necessary.

Preferences of Food Consumption - Local Food vs Organic Food

Objective: The purpose of this research is to understand the change in food consumption patterns of consumers of organic food especially after the pandemic. Theoretical framework: This study draws suggestions from attitude-behaviour relationship model. The internal factors are - attitudes towards local food, and attitudes towards supporting the local economy, while the external factors are - high price and trust issues related to organic food. Method: Data from organic food consumers was quantitatively analysed using multiple regression in SPSS. A seven point Likert scale was considered to measure the responses and a Cronbach alpha score of 0.8 indicated that the constructs were reliable. Results and conclusion: The findings suggest organic food consumers who have an attitude towards local food consumption and an attitude to support local economy have positive intention towards local food purchase. Also the high price and trust issues related to organic food positively influence the intention to purchase local food. Implications of the research: This study uncovers the changes in food consumption pattern during and after the pandemic. COVID-19 has affected people financially too and affordability has become a key. Marketers will have to come up with affordable solutions to market healthy food. Originality/value: The shift in consumers' preference from organic to local has implications for the environment and the society. Local food is found to be sustainable, healthy and less expensive. Local food systems cater to food traceability and high food safety.

Actions speak louder than words: Adoption of sustainable farming practices based on an integrated model

Despite the ample efforts to address the attitude-behavior gap in individual pro-environmental actions, none of the previous research focused on the inconsistency between farmers' attitudes toward organic farming and their decisions to go green. Based on an integrated behavioral model of the TPB (theory of planned behavior) and ABC (attitude-behavior-context) theory, this study provides the first empirical evidence that uncovers the contextual and/or psychological factors driving farmers' attitude-behavior incongruity. The observed attitude-behavior relation indicates that there is a much higher share of conventional farmers exhibit attitude-behavior incongruity compared to their organic counterparts. As predicted by the TPB-ABC model, farmers' tendency to exhibit inconsistency between attitude and behavior is found to increase with their perception of policy support. The working hypothesis that drivers of the discrepancy between farmers' positive attitude and actual adoption behavior are different for the two groups of farmers is also confirmed in this study. Specifically, in addition to the contextual factors, personal capabilities play a role in driving conventional farmers' sustaining use of synthetic inputs and lock-in to unsustainable farming practices. Further analyses of the influence of holding a positive attitude on conventional farmers’ economic performance suggest the presence of economic benefits associated with holding a favorable attitude toward organic farming.

Emotional Intelligence as Evaluative Activity: Theory, Findings, and Future Directions

The question of whether ability-related emotional intelligence (ability EI) predicts important life outcomes has attracted considerably more attention than the question of what ability EI consists of. In the present paper, the authors draw from the attitude and emotion literatures to suggest that the evaluation dimension of meaning is likely key in understanding how ability EI operates. Measures of ability EI predict the extent to which individuals can accurately evaluate words and measures of the latter type act as emotional intelligence measures. Extending this analysis, the paper reviews recent sources of data linking ability EI to attitudinal processes, such as those involved in attitude–behavior relationships and affective bipolarity. Individuals with high EI appear to experience their affect in more bipolar terms and they display evidence of greater decisiveness in their evaluations. Pursuing links of the present type will allow researchers to generate new predictions concerning the ability EI construct.

Demystifying the green purchasing behavior of young consumers: Moderating role of green skepticism

ABSTRACT Environmental protection is increasingly a concern, but false claims by companies have raised green skepticism among consumers. Young consumers constitute a significant group for consumption in an economy like India. While young consumers have rarely been surveyed on factors like green perceived value and perception regarding green claims, there is a paucity of research on the moderating role of skepticism. This paper provides a new perspective regarding the underexplored debate on green skepticism levels among young consumers. Data from 610 respondents were gathered through a researcher-controlled survey. Antecedents to environmental attitude, namely green perceived value, environmental knowledge, and interpersonal influence, were found to influence the relationships significantly. Young consumers’ environmental attitude was significant in explaining their green purchasing behavior. The paper sheds first light on the negative moderating effect of skepticism on the attitude-behavior relationship. The study highlights the role of educated and urban young consumers in sustainable consumption. In the same vein, findings suggest that managers should consider the importance of consumers’ doubts as a valuable element for global green advertising effectiveness.

Environmental behavior patterns across clusters of European Union countries: Uncovering heterogeneity in the attitude-behavior-context relationship

This study examines how European Union (EU) citizens systematically differ in their environmental attitude-behavior relationships according to country-level contextual drivers. Using Eurobarometer data and a multilevel latent class regression model, we identified four attitude-behavior relationships that we labelled, according to mean environmental behavior scores, as environmentalist, pre-environmentalist, less-environmentalist, and non-environmentalist. Regarding their distribution across the EU, we identified four country clusters reflecting pattern similarities that we labelled green, yellow-green, brown, and gray clusters. We found that the attitude-behavior relationship was weaker for more environmentalist patterns than for less environmentalist patterns. Furthermore, more environmentalist patterns were associated with more privileged social positions. As expected, the country clusters reflected socioeconomic development levels (more developed countries were environmentally greener). In the interest of reducing inequality in the distribution of environmentally healthy and vital ecosystems, we suggest that EU environmental policies should mainly address the environmental behaviors of countries classified as brown and gray.

A dual‐process framework for diversity training to reduce discrimination in organizational settings

AbstractDisputes about the value of Diversity Training (DT) stem partly from disputes about what DT should entail and what its expected outcomes should be. We answer previous reviews’ calls for approaches to DT that are grounded in empirically supported theoretical frameworks. Specifically, and based on longstanding theory and research on attitude–behavior relations, we offer a dual‐process framework that identifies key factors for interventions to reduce individual‐level discrimination in organizational settings, including (a) automatic attitudes/bias, (b) awareness of the impact of bias, (c) motives relating to egalitarianism and conformity, and (d) the opportunity to engage in deliberative decision making. We offer suggestions, where available, for how DT might employ basic research known to impact these factors to construct more effective interventions. Finally, we offer guidance for targeted rather than “one‐size‐fits‐all” approaches to DT and advocate for an integration of DT tailored to individuals with structural interventions tailored to organizations.

Attitude-Behavior Relation and Language Use: Chinese-English Code-Switching and Code-Mixing Among Chinese Undergraduate Students

The socio-psychological variables that affect bilinguals’ choices of code-switching (CS) and code-mixing (CM) as a verbal strategy make prediction of their occurrence almost impossible. This research investigates the social motivations and socio-pragmatic aspects of Chinese-English CS/CM among Chinese undergraduate students. Using a questionnaire survey and interviews, the paper investigates attitude-behavior relations by considering patterns of language use and CS/CM patterns between Chinese and English in this group. The results demonstrate that the participants’ highly positive attitudes toward English and the CS/CM process play a major role in CS/CM use in their daily interactions. Chinese-English bilingual students draw on their proficiency and knowledge of the two language systems to precisely and effectively convey their thoughts, intentions, experiences, solidarity, emphasis, and other aspects that affect interaction outcomes.

What predicts employer discrimination? The role of implicit and explicit racial attitudes

Hiring discrimination against black jobseekers remains prevalent in the United States. Yet, despite strong evidence about the existence of employer discrimination, we know relatively little about what motivates employers' discriminatory behavior. I draw on an original two-wave study with a sample of white hiring agents to examine whether respondents' explicit (deliberate) and implicit (automatic) racial attitudes predict their evaluations of white and black job applicants. Building on dual-process models of the attitude-behavior relationship, I theorize that the hiring process at many U.S. organizations—characterized by ambiguity, time pressure and distractions, and the legitimacy of emotions as a decision-making tool—encourages decision-making based on implicit rather than explicit cognition. Consistent with this theorization, I find implicit, but not explicit, racial attitudes predict respondents' evaluations of white applicants, and of black applicants relative to white applicants. This suggests hiring agents’ behavior reflects implicit biases, rather than deliberate avoidance. The results further highlight the role of pro-white bias, not solely anti-black sentiment, in explaining discrimination: implicit attitudes were associated with bias in favor of white jobseekers, not only with discrimination against black jobseekers relative to white jobseekers. Finally, in open-ended responses, hiring agents explain their racially-motivated evaluations without invoking race, suggesting the ambiguity of the hiring process enables them to justify their behavior as colorblind. Together, these findings illustrate how employers can portray an egalitarian image while engaging in racially-motivated behavior.

Factors promoting customer citizenship behaviours and the moderating role of self-monitoring: a study of ride-hailing services

PurposeThis study aims to broaden understanding of why customers engage in helping and feedback citizenship behaviours. Beyond traditional attitude–behaviour relationships, limited insight is available on the additional role of symbolic factors, such as self-congruence perceptions, in motivating citizenship behaviours. Literature further suggests self-monitoring affects social behaviours, yet extant research has not accounted for this personality trait’s moderating influence on customer helping and feedback citizenship behaviours. Accordingly, a research model is developed, providing novel insight into factors promoting helping and feedback citizenship behaviours and the moderating role of self-monitoring in a ride-hailing service context.Design/methodology/approachThe research is guided by self-monitoring literature and the social exchange and similarity-attraction theories. Survey data from 609 ride-hailing customers in an emerging market country is analysed using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling, and the chi-square difference test.FindingsThis study shows that perceived justice (a cognitive attitudinal factor) influences helping citizenship intention in the low self-monitoring group, while self-congruity (a symbolic factor) affects helping and feedback citizenship intention in the high self-monitoring group. Affective commitment towards the ride-hailing brand (an affective attitudinal factor) does not impact customer citizenship intentions.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough customers may be interested in brands’ functional and symbolic benefits, positive attitudes about the service experienced motivate low self-monitors, while a symbolic-driven factor like self-congruence is more successful in motivating high self-monitors to engage in customer citizenship behaviours.Originality/valueNovel insight is obtained into the additional influence of self-congruity on customer citizenship behaviours, a neglected factor in extant research involving customer citizenship behaviours that is explained by the similarity-attraction theory. Furthermore, this study provides a pioneering view of the relevance of the self-monitoring theory in moderating customer citizenship behaviours, specifically in ride-hailing services.

The effect of destination attractiveness on destination attachment and its impact on tourist sustainable behavior

Purpose – In gaining competitive advantage in the tourism context, Bandung City needs a good marketing strategy. This study aims to determine the influence of destination attractiveness on destination attachment and its impact on tourist sustainable behavior in Bandung, West Java. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a descriptive verification approach. The number of samples is 151 tourists who were randomly selected using incidental techniques. The data analysis is carried out using SEM with Amos 22 software. The data were collected through questionnaire, notes and publication, and literature study. Findings – The results of this study indicate that the attraction given by a destination directly influences tourists to make return visits. Destination attractiveness has an influence on destination attachment. This study also found that the mediating effect of the tourist destination attachment on the relationship between destination attractiveness and sustainable behavior is very small. Research limitations/implications – Future research is suggested to consider other variables that are able to mediate the influence of tourist attraction on return visits or sustainable behavior. Practical implications – As destination attractiveness positively affects sustainable behavior of tourist, this study provides insight for the government of Bandung city to make a good marketing strategy in order to create a competitive advantage in their destination. Originality/value – This study answers to the suggestion from previous studies to identify and examine the mediators relevant to the attitude-behavior relationship in the context of tourism research.

Do Qualitative and Quantitative Job Insecurity Influence Hotel Employees’ Green Work Outcomes?

The extant literature lacks evidence concerning the effects of qualitative and quantitative job insecurity (JIS) on service workers’ performance outcomes. This is also true for their effects on green work outcomes. To fill in this void, drawing on social information processing, threat-rigidity, and the reformulation of attitude theories as well as the model of attitude–behavior relation, this paper proposes and tests a research model that investigates the effects of both qualitative and quantitative JIS simultaneously on green work outcomes. Data gathered from hotel employees during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey were utilized to gauge the hypothesized associations through structural equation modeling. The findings suggest that quantitative JIS weakens harmonious environmental passion, green recovery performance, and proactive pro-environmental behavior. In addition, harmonious environmental passion mediates the impact of quantitative JIS on the aforementioned green work consequences. Contrary to the predictions, the findings lend no credence to the negative impact of qualitative JIS on harmonious environmental passion, green recovery performance, and proactive pro-environmental behavior.

Perception of sex in the attitude-behavior relationship in school violence. A qualitative study

School violence is currently a focus of social alarm that generates special interest in research, given its significant impact on the personal, social, school and family environments of children and adolescents. With regard to the prevention and intervention of this social phenomenon, the study of attitudes associated with violent behavior in the school context has been described as an important variable. This study aims to explore attitudes towards school violence, associated behaviors and the influence that the perceived sex could have on this relationship. The sample studied consists of 96 participants from Spanish Elementary Education and Compulsory Secondary Education schools. Through focus groups and thematic analysis of the data, a qualitative study of attitudes associated with violent behavior due to sex is carried out. Seven groups of attitudes were identified: a) associated with gender stereotypes; b) towards Intimate partner violence; c) as a form of attraction; d) as a way to socialize; e) as a way to increase self-esteem; f) as a form of fun, and g) when it is perceived as legitimate. These results could serve as a basis for the creation of evaluation instruments, as well as for the design of prevention and psychological intervention plans based on attitude modification.

Testing predictors of attitude strength as determinants of attitude stability and attitude–behaviour relationships: A multi‐behaviour study

AbstractThere has been relatively little study of multiple predictors of attitude strength. Eight predictors (attitude certainty; attitude importance; attitude subjective knowledge; moral basis of attitude; attitude elaboration; felt ambivalence; cognitive‐affective potential ambivalence; cognitive‐affective inconsistency) were tested for individual and combined impact on two defining features of attitude strength (attitude temporal stability; attitude–behaviour relationship), in a prospective study over one and two months across six COVID‐19 protection behaviours (N = 477). All eight predictors were individually associated with attitude stability in individual (except elaboration) and simultaneous (except elaboration and potential ambivalence) tests. All eight predictors (except elaboration and potential ambivalence) were significant moderators of attitude–behaviour relationships in individual tests; attitude importance and inconsistency were significant moderators of attitude–behaviour relationships in simultaneous tests (only former remained significant controlling for stability). The findings highlight attitude importance as the strongest predictor of attitude strength reflected in their impact on attitude stability and attitude–behaviour relationships.

An empirical test of alternative models: A comparison between casual and fine dining restaurants

This study builds on the efforts to systematize the effects of online reviews, trust, and attitude on behavioral intentions. Specifically, we report the direct and indirect effects of variables on behavioral intentions through different models that compare the two types of restaurants (casual vs. fine dining). Our findings provide ample evidence that trust and attitude are directly related to behavioral intentions when online reviews do not directly influence behavioral intentions for both restaurant types. The findings also show that the online review-attitude-behavior link of Model 4 is more stable and robust than in Model 3. In particular, the indirect role of online reviews on behavioral intentions enhances the effects of the attitude-behavior relationship in both casual and fine dining restaurants.

Employee psychological reactions to micro-corporate social responsibility and societal behavior: A structural equation modeling analysis.

Employee psychological reactions to micro-corporate social responsibility (CSR) have recently been expanded in interdisciplinary management science research. The shreds of evidence in this regard are inconclusive, fragmented, and underdeveloped about how employee cognitive, behavioral, and affective dimensions of attitudes toward micro-CSR relate to each other and shape employee societal behavior (SB). In application of dual-process theories of attitude-behavior relations, we investigate the intra-relationships of perceived CSR-community (PCSRC; cognitive dimension of attitude), CSR engagement (CSRE; behavioral dimension of attitude), CSR positivity (CSRP; affective dimension of attitude). Also, we explore how these variables influence employee SB with a moderated-mediated model. Based on the opinions of 440 Bangladeshi employees as respondents, a structural equation modeling analysis confirmed the positive links from PCSRC to SB, PCSRC to CSRE, CSRE to SB, PCSRC to CSRP, CSRP to SB, and CSRP to CSRE. It also reported that CSRE mediated the relation between PCSRC and SB. It further examined that CSRP did not moderate the direct relation between PCSRC and SB, and the indirect relation between PCSRC and SB via CSRE at low, medium, or high employee CSRP. There are very crystal study implications that address policymakers to adopt CSR policy and its implementation strategies, accordingly, to employees’ psychological reactions to micro-CSR.

The effect of perceived scarcity on strengthening the attitude–behavior relation for sustainable luxury products

PurposeThis study aims to examine whether, and how, perceived product scarcity strengthens the attitude–behavior relation in the case of sustainable luxury products.Design/methodology/approachThree online studies were conducted to examine the moderating role of perceived product scarcity on the attitude–willingness to pay (WTP) relationship in the case of sustainable luxury products. A preliminary study (n = 208) examined the existence of an attitude–WTP gap toward a sustainable luxury product (i.e. a bag). Study 1 (n = 171) investigated the moderating effect of perceived scarcity induced by a limited quantity message on the relationship between consumer attitude and the WTP for a sustainable luxury product (i.e. a pair of shoes). Study 2 (n = 558) replicated these findings using a different product category (i.e. a wallet) while controlling for demographic variables and examined the moderating role of consumer characteristics on the scarcity effect.FindingsConsumers’ perceived scarcity for sustainable luxury products positively moderated the relationship between product attitudes and their WTP for the products. The moderating effect of perceived scarcity was significant for consumers regardless of their tendency toward socially responsible consumption and their preference for product innovativeness. Meanwhile, the scarcity effect was influenced by the consumers’ attitude toward the brand of sustainable products.Practical implicationsThis research provides empirical evidence for marketers with clear managerial implications concerning how to immediately promote consumers’ acceptance of sustainable luxury products.Originality/valueThis study is the first to examine the role of scarcity strategy on strengthening the attitude–behavior relation for sustainable luxury products.