Pro-environmental Orientation Research Articles

An exploration of parents’ engagement with learning about climate change through science education: learnings for future practice

Climate change education is crucial to addressing the climate crisis. Studies show that parents and guardians can play an important role in transmitting knowledge, competencies, and a pro-environmental orientation to their children. Whilst climate change education can span many disciplines, it has been effective within science education. In this paper we embrace evidence-based effective approaches to science education, with parents. Climate change education research literature published to date focusses on school-based interventions and there is a dearth of literature on parental involvement. This paper describes the development of, and outcomes associated with, a programme to promote engagement with climate change education for families from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Data were gathered through post semi-structured interviews and reflections on posters and photos created and collected throughout the programme. Findings indicate that this approach engaged parents in climate change education with their children and successfully addressed various misconceptions. The programme presents a real opportunity to engage parents in their children’s formal education.

Life cycle perspective in design and product development

Abstract Eco-design is one of the cornerstones of the modern economy, as reflected in the policies aimed at implementing the principles of design for the environment in the European Union legislation. A life cycle perspective is a feature of eco-design. The study aimed to determine whether and to what extent the selected companies operating in manufacturing sectors consider life cycle perspectives when designing and developing the products they offer. The main research area discussed in the following article focused on the question: What kind of activities related to the idea of life cycle thinking in product policy can be identified in the analysed enterprises? Qualitative research was conducted using the individual in-depth interview method with representatives of selected industries located in Poland. Eight manufacturer groups were invited to participate in the study. Based on the recruitment process, 24 companies were chosen for the interview. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted using Microsoft Teams, following the ICC/ESOMAR Code 2016 standards. Based on the results, most companies that participated in the study considered the life cycle perspective when designing or further developing products. However, their activities varied in scope. The activities of the ten interviewed companies could be regarded as advanced. For six companies, the advanced activities targeted the product’s use phase. Two companies undertook such activities at more than one life cycle stage. The study provides evidence that the surveyed companies are beginning to think beyond operational boundaries and changing their pro-environmental orientation, albeit unimpressively. The paper provides evidence that eco-design requirements are an unquestionable driver for activities from a life cycle perspective. All surveyed manufacturers of energy-powered products are taking measures to reduce energy intensity with less activity, for example, ensuring the durability/reliability of products and finding solutions to facilitate disassembly and recycling.

From teachers to students: a correlational analysis of the pro-environmental behavior in a private university in the Philippines

Purpose This study aims to address the following objectives: determine the pro-environmental behavior of students and professors engaged in the course Sustainable Tourism; determine the pro-environmental behavior component of the professor that has the highest influence on the pro-environmental behavior of students; and formulate a model describing the components of the pro-environmental behavior of the professor with significant influence on the pro-environmental behavior of students. It also evaluates the norm-activation-theory-aligned pro-environmental behavior of the course's instructor and the students taking the course after they participated in the course Sustainable Tourism. Design/methodology/approach A correlational analysis using the partial least squares structural equation modeling approach was conducted in the survey results to determine the specific components of the professor's pro-environmental behavior that influenced the students' pro-environmental behavior. Findings Situational responsibility, efficacy and denial of responsibility were proven more influential in shaping students' pro-environmental behavior. This implies that students learn and adopt a pro-environmental orientation through role modeling and practical application, not by knowledge acquisition. Originality/value This could improve the body of knowledge on pro-environmental behavior by analyzing the reciprocal relationships between the person who delivers the course that instills pro-environmental behavior and students who learn from their professors using the norm activation theory.

Psychological characteristics of environmental stakeholders and interactions in their social network

This research explores the roles of (1) the stakeholder categories conservation association, land use association, public authority and research group, (2) Organizational Culture, operationalized by the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument; (3) Environmental Worldview, operationalized by the New Environmental Paradigm; and (4) Environmental Risk Perception, operationalized by the Myths of Physical Nature, in shaping the interactions in the social network of environmental stakeholders in the city and district of Osnabrück in Northwest Germany. First, the study examines the stakeholder categories (1), regarding the expression of the constructs (2), (3) and (4) among them. Second, all constructs (1), (2), (3) and (4) are examined regarding possible correlations with the presence of collaboration and conflict between stakeholders. Our analysis reveals that (1) Stakeholder Categories are significantly correlated with the presence of collaboration, but not of conflict. (2) A significant correlation between membership of a stakeholder category and the dominant manifestation of a particular organizational culture is present, while no correlation between Organizational Cultures and the presence of collaborations or conflicts could be found. Moreover, the study highlights (3) a generally pro-environmental orientation across stakeholders as captured by the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP), indicating a shared foundation for potential collaborative efforts. (4) Analysis of Environmental Risk Perception, through the Cultural Theory’s myths of physical nature, uncovers a widespread preference for the hierarchical myth, suggesting a common perception of environmental risks and resilience. This study emphasizes the importance of understanding psychological and social dimensions in environmental stakeholder management to enhance collaborative efforts towards sustainable development. It highlights the need for management approaches that acknowledge the complex interplay of diverse psychological constructs in driving effective and sustainable collaborations between stakeholders of regional land use, nature conservation, public authorities, academia and other sectors depending on the context. Through its insights into stakeholder interactions, this research contributes to the broader discourse on achieving sustainable development goals through informed, cooperative stakeholder engagement.

Examining relations between left-wing authoritarianism and environmentalism

Individuals who endorse system-justifying ideologies are less likely to uphold pro-environmental orientations. Indeed, Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) correlate negatively with environmentalism. Yet recent theorising and empirical findings suggest that authoritarianism may also serve left-wing goals. Extending past research, we report new cross-cultural data (US, N = 512; New Zealand, N = 447) examining the associations between Left-Wing Authoritarianism (LWA) and environmentalism, and whether the LWA–environmentalism associations mirror correlations observed for RWA and SDO. Results showed that environmentalism correlates positively with LWA and negatively with both RWA and SDO. Collectively, our results demonstrate that endorsement of right-wing authoritarian leanings is more detrimental to environmental protection than the rejection of left-wing authoritarian leanings. We discuss the implications of our results for the field’s understanding of LWA and ways to address environmental problems.

Influence of Pro-Environmental Attitudes on the Choice between Tangible and Virtual Product Forms

The development of modern technology has contributed to changes in consumer shopping trends. Increasingly, there is a departure from traditional to digital sales channels and similar trends are also being observed for different categories of products—e.g., books or movies. The most important reasons behind such a shift includes purchase convenience, storage ease, or a supposed lower environmental impact. The purpose of this research was to verify whether the pro-environmental attitudes represented by consumers are a moderating variable in the choice between the traditional and digital form of a product. In order to do this, a survey questionnaire was first developed and then a representative sample of 1000 Polish respondents were surveyed. The research procedure included an exploratory factor analysis used for extracting consumers’ pro-environmental attitudes, as well as an indicator of propensity to choose either digital or traditional products; Ward’s hierarchical analysis and the k-means method for grouping participants into clusters based on such attitudes and then evaluating the willingness to choose a particular product in each cluster; differences between clusters (Mann–Whitney’s U and Kruskal–Wallis H tests); as well as a correlation between those attitudes and the preferred product form. The research proved that there were consumer groups taking similar actions related to environmental issues, as well as tending to choose a particular product form. The conducted analyses revealed that isolated, pro-environmental attitudes were positively correlated with a willingness to choose a digital product, although such a relationship is weak. Additionally, it was proven that groups with general pro-environmental orientation are more willing to buy products in traditional form, whereas digital forms were visibly more popular in groups with more neutral or negative approaches towards the environment.

The Effect of Ecopreneurship on Organisational Performance as Moderated by Firm Size among Selected Foods and Beverages Manufacturing Firms in Lagos State and Ogun State, Nigeria

The efficiency and effectiveness of management in Food and Beverage Manufacturing Firms (FBMF) can be gauged by their organizational performance. Studies have shown that manufacturing activities in Nigeria have resulted in significant negative environmental consequences, such as degradation of natural environments, depletion of ozone layers, and the release of harmful substances. These outcomes have had a detrimental impact on the performance of Food and Beverage Manufacturing Firms, leading to reduced profitability, declining market share, low productivity, and sluggish sales growth. These outcomes suggest a lack of adequate implementation of ecopreneurship practices, including environmental expenditure, corporate environmental responsibility, non-adherence to environmental regulations, eco-innovation, and pro-environmental orientation. Furthermore, based on the reviewed extant literature, it was found that, prior literature gave little consideration to the moderating role of firm size on ecopreneurship and organisational performance nexus. Therefore, this study examined the effects of ecopreneurship on organisational performance of FBMF moderated by the firm size. This study adopted a quantitative approach. Using a survey research design, data were collected from a sample of 415 employees of 10 selected FBMF in Lagos and Ogun States, Nigeria. The respondents were selected using Simple random sampling technique. Hierarchical Multiple Linear Regression Analysis (HMLR) was used to test the hypotheses. The findings revealed that, at 0.05 significance level, ecopreneurship had significant effect on organizational performance of selected food and beverage manufacturing firms in Lagos and Ogun States, Nigeria (Adj.R2 = 0.86, F(5, 364) = 459.20, p < 0.05). And the effect of ecopreneurship on organisational performance was not significantly moderated by firm size (β = -0.00, ∆R 2 = 0.00, ∆F = 1.38, p > 0.05). By implication, the findings of this study emphasize the importance of ecopreneurship across all sizes of FBMF. Implementing ecopreneurship practices not only drives performance but also enhances sustainability efforts and provides a competitive advantage in the market. Based on the findings, it was recommended that management of selected FBMF in Lagos and Ogun States should continuously work on policies that can enhance their capacity to adopt environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, audit their existing ecopreneurship environment, identify vulnerable areas, and implement best practices.

Factors determining the implementation of green practices in airport management. The case study of Polish airports

The main objective of this article was to assess the significance of factors that determine pro-environmental orientation in airport management. A survey conducted among Polish airports showed that the assessment of the factor's significance depended not only on air traffic volume but also on the degree of airports' commitment to green practices. For airports with a high level of commitment, the most important barrier was the cost. In the case of airports with a medium level of commitment, the most significant barriers were unawareness of the potential benefits, and a low priority assigned to green practices in the airport's strategic goals. For airports with a low degree of commitment, in addition to the costs, the most important barrier was the conviction that their impact on the environment was low. The most important stimulants were the same for airports with medium and high levels of pro-environmental commitment: good financial condition, pro-environmental orientation of airport authorities, and political pressure. For the airports with a low degree of commitment, growth rates of passenger traffic were the most important stimulant. All the analyzed Polish airports saw benefits primarily in the possibility of identifying, monitoring, and reducing their negative impacts on the environment (meeting the legal and political requirements), and increasing the environmental awareness of the airport authorities and employees. In terms of managerial implications, our research has demonstrated that there is a strong need to provide expert assistance to airport authorities in the field of environmental management. The objectives of European Union policy are among the most ambitious and rigorous in the world. European airports committed to net zero carbon emissions under their control by 2050 or even earlier, and a few of them have already achieved Net Zero. Nevertheless, Polish airports undertake pro-environmental measures to a very limited extent, despite the dynamic high growth of passenger traffic, and despite being subjected to the pressure of the same European policy. In this context, support from the EU policy and domestic policy is of key importance.

The determinants of individual’s recycling behavior with an investigation into the possibility of expanding the deposit refund system in glass waste management in Croatia

This study investigates the recycling behavior of Croatian citizens and identifies the determinants of individual recycling intention. It also addresses whether the existing deposit refund system for glass bottles in Croatia can be replaced by an expanded system that includes the return and reuse of almost all types of glass containers. A total of 427 Croatian citizens participated in the survey. Quantitative data analysis was performed using Structural Equation Modeling. In addition to the survey, a focus group was conducted with the relevant experts. The results confirmed the assumption about the pro-environmental orientation in Croatia. Citizens have a positive attitude towards the expanded deposit refund system in waste glass disposal and intend to implement it. The most significant predictor of their intention is their attitude towards the expanded deposit refund system, followed by familiarity with recycling. A person’s recycling intention is mainly determined by familiarity with recycling and perceived behavioral control. In the qualitative study, Croatian experts were generally positive about an expanded deposit refund system for glass containers but warned that implementation would not be without certain obstacles. The added value of the study is the creation of new knowledge for the design of local and national policies that can promote individuals’ environmentally friendly behavior and improve the glass waste disposal system in Croatia.

Green roles at home: exploring the impact of household social dynamic processes on consumption at the food-energy-water (FEW) nexus.

Capturing the social dynamic processes among household members that work to shape consumption patterns presents a complex problem for household resource conservation studies. To bridge the gap between the individual and household, we propose and test a series of quantitative measures that explore the underlying structure of household social dynamic processes through the lens of social practice theory. Based on previous qualitative research, we develop measures to test five distinct social dynamic processes that either encourage or deter pro-environmental action: enhancing, norming, preferring, constraining, and allocating. In a sample of households (n = 120) from suburban Midwestern USA, we find that positively framed social dynamic processes (enhancing and positive norming) positively predict variance in frequency of food-, energy-, and water-conserving pro-environmental actions. Pro-environmental orientation of the individual respondent, in turn, is positively associated with perception of positively framed dynamics. These findings suggest that social dynamic processes influence individual decision-making about household consumption, supporting previous research that illustrates consumption as embedded within the relationships that form residential life. We suggest ways forward for quantitative social science researchers to explore consumption through a practice-based approach that considers the influence of social institutions on emission-intensive lifestyles.

Financial Constraints of the Pro-environmentally Oriented Firms in the Covid-19 Crisis

Environmentally oriented firms are more pressed for resources in general, especially during periods of economic downturn. Since their business plans are frequently more innovative, they are perceived as riskier by financial institutions. Furthermore, the recent global COVID-19 crisis was not primarily related to financial disruptions, and most governments provided generous and widespread support to different segments of their economies. However, the evidence on the degree to which firms were faced with access to finance problems during this crisis is still scarce. This paper aims to explore the extent to which environmentally-oriented firms in post-transition economies are disproportionally affected by the financial constraints related to the market disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemics compared to non-environmentally oriented firms. The World Bank Enterprise Survey 2019 has been used to investigate this issue. Based on this data source, an indicator of firm environmental proactivity is developed. The firms’ financial constraints in the pandemic period are evaluated based on the responses from the three survey rounds of the World Bank COVID-19 follow-up enterprise survey, covering different stages of the pandemic. The post-transition countries in the analysis are heterogeneous, consisting of both EU members (Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovakia, and Slovenia) and EU accession countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia). The lowest percentage of firms having an environmental strategy was found in Croatia, while the highest percentage is in Slovenia. Based on the results, it can be concluded that firms adopting environmental strategies in analyzed countries mostly follow regulations and/or chose low-cost measures.
 Keywords: financial constraints, pro-environmental orientation, post-transition, COVID- 19

The Continuum of Eco-Anxiety Responses: A Preliminary Investigation of Its Nomological Network

In the face of mounting environmental issues, people around the world are reporting the experience of difficult emotions such as anxiety and worry, or what is increasingly referred to as eco-anxiety. It is often acknowledged that symptoms of eco-anxiety can range in severity or fall along a continuum. Such a proposition has important implications, as it may help to explain why some forms of eco-anxiety are more mal(adaptive) than others. In five studies (Total N = 2939) across three countries (Canada, China, United Kingdom), we examined how measures that may encompass a continuum of environment-related worry and anxiety were associated with each other and with measures of environmental concern, an older concept that may capture the less severe end of eco-anxiety responses. We also explored if these various measures were differentially linked to aspects of mental health and a pro-environmental orientation. Results revealed that measures of eco-anxiety and environmental concern were often moderately-strongly correlated. Eco-anxiety measures exhibited relatively consistent relationships with greater ill-being but mixed relationships with indices of well-being. There was some evidence of more severe eco-anxiety measures being associated with poorer mental health and environmental concern measures being associated with better mental health. Measures of both eco-anxiety and environmental concern evidenced larger and more consistent relationships with indices of a pro-environmental orientation, with the most severe eco-anxiety measure exhibiting some notably weaker relationships. Together, the present work provides preliminary insights into the nomological network of the continuum of eco-anxiety responses and its integration into future work on eco-anxiety.

Measuring pro-environmental orientation: Testing and building scales

A pro-environmental orientation is theorized to be an important predictor of public and private pro-environmental behavior. As such, measuring pro-environmental orientation is an important component in environmental psychology and politics research. In this paper, we assess two well-established scales, the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) and the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS), on how well they measure the underlying construct of pro-environmental orientation. The items of these scales offer strong face validity, but mainly from a politically left tradition, which may reduce validity among political conservatives. Previous attempts at scale validation have mostly focused on predictive validity with pro-environmental behavior and have not tested how the items measure the latent construct itself. Additionally, we present a novel measure of environmental orientation using diverse moral language to avoid ideological framing: the Moral Environmentalism Scale (MES). The MES is validated here using MTurk workers (n = 448), and a more representative sample from Survey Sampling International (n = 499). In these validation studies, the MES moderated the relationship between party identification and behavior while CNS and NEP did not. Item-level analyses of the MES scale using two measurement periods revealed robust item characteristics. Seen together, all three scales offer a more complete picture of pro-environmental orientation measurement validity and inform scale selection for future research. All study materials, data, and analysis code are available at https://osf.io/d4ume/?view_only=05d5cfb5a76a4f11b339290913da96f6.

Mangrove Conservation in Macao SAR, China: The Role of Environmental Education among School Students.

Mangrove forests are one of the most ecologically valuable ecosystems in the world and provide a wide variety of ecosystem services to coastal communities, including cities. Macao, a highly urbanized coastal city located on the southern coast of China west of the Pearl River, is home to several species of mangroves with many associated flora and fauna. Mangrove forests in Macao are vulnerable to threats due to pressure from rapid and massive urban developments in the area, which led to mangrove loss in the past decades. To address this issue, the local authorities established special Ecological Zones for the management of the local mangroves. To reinforce local conservation efforts, educating the local population about the value of mangroves, especially school students, is of utmost importance. To evaluate the impact of environmental education activities on the environmental orientation, knowledge, and values of students toward mangrove conservation in Macao, a quasi-experimental study was undertaken. The effectiveness of a mangroves exhibition and field visit were evaluated using the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale—Macao version in a group of local school students who participated in the activities. Overall, the results provided consistently positive evaluations of the impact of the environmental education program. The strongest improvements were found in the students’ pro-environmental orientations, knowledge about mangroves, and value for environmental protection.

The problem of CSR: an exploration of relationship between CSR initiatives and excess work ethic

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to bring to light the downside of the positive effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) concerning employee work practices. The focus is on the aspects of excess work ethic (EWE) that are hypothesized as the result of increased organizational identification (OI) due to CSR engagement. This excessive involvement by employees in their work results in neglect of their personal lives.Design/methodology/approachThe sample has been taken from employees of various organizational sectors in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the hypothesized relationships among the variables in the conceptual framework.FindingsThe findings of the study reveal that CSR perception of employees negates the excessive work ethic but the introduction of a higher level of OI due to work meaningfulness indirectly positively affects EWE with pro-environmental orientation (PEO) as a moderator.Originality/valueThe relationship between CSR and variables such as work engagement has been explored in the recent literature but the heightened level of OI indulging the employees into overwork is rarely been explored. Also, the use of PEO as a mediator adds to the knowledge on the subject.

What explains German consumers’ acceptance of carbon pricing? Examining the roles of pro-environmental orientation and consumer coping style

We introduce a novel, psychological perspective on the acceptability of carbon pricing in which we differentiate between a citizen’s perspective and a consumer’s coping style. We expected acceptance to be determined by three factors: a citizen’s perspective that is rooted in a pro-environmental orientation (mediated via the personal norm to support climate policies) and a consumer’s perspective, comprising two kinds of coping foci, i.e., an action-oriented coping focus (trying to reduce one’s carbon footprint to avoid the costs of carbon pricing) and an affective, state-oriented coping focus (reacting with fear, anger, and hostility toward carbon pricing). Furthermore, we expected the coping foci to be related to people’s evaluations of their own personal situation (whether they produce a lot of CO2 or not and whether they see options for reducing their carbon footprint). We tested the hypotheses via path models in a sample of n = 603 German participants. The results showed that a pro-environmental orientation (a citizen’s perspective) was the strongest factor for acceptability. It also had a stronger influence on state- and action-orientated coping than people’s evaluations of their own carbon emissions and the options for reducing them. Furthermore, the state-oriented consumer focus seemed to be a stronger predictor of the acceptance of carbon pricing than the action-oriented consumer focus. Implications of the results for promoting climate policies such as carbon pricing and for addressing the aspects that correspond to the consumer’s perspective are discussed.

The Effects of Pro-Social and Pro-Environmental Orientation on Crowdfunding Performance

Reward-based crowdfunding is an alternative type of project financing in which a large and dispersed online crowd contributes relatively small financial amounts in exchange for innovative products or services. The crowd is driven by a broad set of motivations that also comprises sustainability awareness. However, empirical research on crowdfunding projects that feature social or environmental considerations provides inconclusive results. In our study, we enhance the understanding of whether a pro-social and pro-environmental orientation affects the performance of reward-based crowdfunding. We draw on the literature stream of social movements to explain how linguistic framing mobilizes individuals and relate this to how selection is enabled and action is guided in a crowdfunding setting. Based on a sample of 1049 projects from Kickstarter, we employ computer-aided text analysis (CATA) to capture the pro-social and pro-environmental orientation of the project descriptions and transcribed video pitches as linguistic constructs. We found that the level of pro-social or pro-environmental orientation has an inverted U-shaped effect on crowdfunding performance. Moreover, this relationship differs when crowdfunding projects feature a creative product or service idea. Our results suggest that entrepreneurs need to delicately balance a pro-social or pro-environmental orientation and find the “right” level of emphasis to create a competitive advantage.

Municipal Urban Waste Management—Challenges for Polish Cities in an Era of Circular Resource Management

Municipal authorities increasingly view environmental protection as one of the goals of city management. The pro-environmental orientation of cities can, therefore, foster the creation of new management methods and instruments and promote reorganization of determining material flows in a municipal system. Activities of this kind should result not only in the reduction of generated waste but also in the creation of closed material cycles. Considering the tasks of Polish local governments, municipalities should pay the most attention to municipal waste. Accordingly, the goal of this study was to identify the problem of mixed municipal waste in cities and assess the influence of investments into fixed assets for environmental protection in the scope of waste management on the quantity of mixed municipal waste in cities. This article also identifies activities for circular resource management that need to be realized by Polish municipalities. The analysis was performed using the panel model, dynamic indexes, and critical analysis of city documents. The conducted research revealed positive trends in cities with respect to the amount of waste collected non-selectively that is conducive to circular resource management. The fact that municipal waste quantity is on the increase should encourage urban authorities to promote pro-environmental waste management behaviors among city dwellers.

Do people's assumptions about the social world matter? The effects of social axioms on environmental attitude and efficacy beliefs

Why do people respond to environmental issues differently? In this research, we approach this question by referring to the role of social axioms, a set of generalized beliefs that embody people's assumptions and expectations about how the social world functions. There are five social axioms specifically: social cynicism, reward for application, social complexity, fate control, and religiosity. We contend that when facing environmental issues, people will resort to their social axioms as these axioms help them understand those issues and evaluate their capability to tackle them through personal and/or collective efforts. As expected, in three studies, we found that the five axioms were associated with environmental attitude and efficacy beliefs: reward for application and social complexity were associated with a more pro-environmental orientation, whereas social cynicism, fate control, and religiosity were related to a less pro-environmental orientation. In Study 3, we additionally demonstrated the unique contribution of social axioms in explaining environmentalism with values and big five personality traits controlled for. These findings support the use of the concept of social axioms as a novel framework for understanding individual differences in environmentalism. This framework offers insights into how people process environment-related information and events and determine their mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Assessing the Willingness to Use Personal e-Transporters (PeTs): Results from a Cross-National Survey in Nine European Cities

In the last few years, there has been a strong increase in the interest in and usage of so-called “Personal e-Transporters” (PeTs), also referred to as micro-mobility devices. Empirical research on the usage of PeTs as a transport mode is virtually non-existent, especially within Europe. This paper aims to fill this gap by investigating people’s motivations and barriers to the use of PeTs. To this end, a behavioural survey was conducted in nine European cities. A representative sample of approximately 250 respondents per city was collected, resulting in a dataset, after data cleaning, of 2159 observations. Generally, respondents’ perceptions of PeTs are not (yet) very favourable. Respondents’ perceptions related to cost and safety received the lowest scores. The results from the transtheoretical model of behavioural change show that a variety of factors influence the stage of behavioural change in which the respondents can be situated. These factors include cycling norms, current walking behaviour, walking attitudes, pro-environmental orientation, gender, PeTs possession, cycling obstacles and subscription to a bicycle sharing service. An important strength of this study lies in the international nature and the size of the data collection, ensuring the reliability and transferability of the results to other cities. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first large-scale survey to investigate people’s travel behaviour related to the usage of PeTs and possibly the only large-scale investigation that took place before the deployment of shared e-scooters in many European cities. Furthermore, an explicit link is made with other modes of active transport (walking and cycling).