Unsustainable Behavior Research Articles

Fight or Flight: How Advertising for Air Travel Triggers Moral Disengagement

ABSTRACT Advertising frequently promotes environmentally detrimental consumption choices such as air travel. To date, the effects of these ads on individuals’ moral evaluation of unsustainable behaviors are still little understood. This study with a quota-based sample in Germany (N = 199) explored whether individuals morally disengage from the harmfulness of flying due to ad exposure. Based on the theory of moral disengagement (Bandura, 2016, Moral disengagement: How people do harm and live with themselves. Worth Publishers), we investigated whether individuals neglect negative consequences, seek moral justification or displace responsibility for flying behaviors after seeing flight advertising. The results suggested that individuals low in climate change concern become more neglectful of the consequences of flying, while climate change concerned individuals exhibited the opposite reaction. Irrespective of individuals’ level of climate change concern, ad exposure increased recipients’ displacement of responsibility to other actors. Moreover, we found a correlation between mechanisms of moral disengagement and flying intentions as well as support for aviation policies.

Fighting climate change: What’s being mindful, outside and at school got to do with it?

Although climate change education strategies have succeeded in spreading awareness, they also create a sense of fear and urgency that not only fails to change environmentally unsustainable behavior but may increase this behavior. The failure of current strategies and the paradoxical increase of environmentally unsustainable behavior may be explained by a theory known as terror management theory. This theory posits that if people are faced with an existential crisis, like climate change, they may cling even tighter onto their current ways. A novel solution to alleviate terror management theory is inspiring and empowering people. Inspiration and empowerment will teach people to see environmentally sustainable behavior as a healthier alternative to their current ways rather than an existential crisis. Therefore, they are more likely to welcome change rather than fear it. My study aims to see if mindfulness, connection to nature, and differing undergraduate programs affects sustainable consumption behavior. These factors are thought to inspire and empower people. If these factors can affect sustainable consumption behavior, then they may inspire and empower people to fight climate change. I predict that individuals who are more mindful and connected to nature will also have more sustainable consumption behavior. Furthermore, programs that highlight environmental issues will allow students to have a better connection to nature and more sustainable consumption behavior. If there is evidence to support, my hypotheses then factors that influence sustainable consumption behavior should be taught in schools. These factors would not only increase environmental behavior but increase the student’s overall wellbeing.

The Case for a Sustainable Excess Profits Tax

Taxes designed to counter unsustainable behaviours that lead to environmental destruction are usually styled as surtaxes on purchase prices. It makes more sense to locate the source of the profits derived from such behaviours and tax them in order to internalize the environmental costs that are currently externalized to current and future societies. Since profit extracted by externalizing environmental risks constitutes economic rent, it could be taxed at high rates without creating inefficiencies. We propose a method for doing so in the form of a “sustainable excess profits tax”—a SEP tax. The tax base of a SEP tax can be constructed by using life cycle analysis methods to identify the portion of corporate profit that is attributable to the externalized environmental costs of production and distribution at all stages of supply chains. We establish the core elements of a SEP tax, demonstrate its theoretical justification, and examine its practical feasibility.See the elevator pitch of this abstract in Tax Papers Unlocked by Break Into Tax here: https://youtu.be/1ei-C4wYBvw.

Sustainable development of plastic pollution awareness campaigns on social media

The Sustainable Development Initiative adopts environmental protection as one of its important goals. It aims to save the environmental sectors, reducing the depletion of environmental resources, pollution and protecting biodiversity. To enhance environmental safety, whether in the present or in the future, this research discussed the issue of plastic pollution and the unsustainable use of those materials and its danger effect to the environment. Also, enhancing the user sustainable participation in protecting the environment and changing environmentally unsafe behaviors to reduce pollution, and to encourage the efforts to sustain the environment, to improve the balanced averment, through a Sustainable development of social media awareness campaigns. The research problem lies in the huge increasing in the consumption of plastic materials despite of the great harm they inflict on living creatures, environment and society, and the weak awareness of the sustainable development goals that adopt a pro-direction to preserve the environment, living creatures and public health. Methodology: The research followed the descriptive analytical methodology to describe and analytic four awareness campaigns specially designed for the study, besides the experimental methodology through preparing a survey questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale adapted from (Chin YSJ., 2019; Pretto et al., 2015) to measure the impact of the awareness campaigns to raise awareness of the effect of plastic pollution before and after the exposure to the campaigns (for a sample of four groups separately) and enhancing the changing in the unsustainable behavior of the audience in the unsafe usage of plastic. The research has come to several results; the most important states that “there are statistically significant differences between the degrees of responses of the research samples towards the four awareness campaigns after the exposure” depending on the audience segmentation.

Driving Mechanism of Farmers’ Utilization Behaviors of Straw Resources—An Empirical Study in Jilin Province, the Main Grain Producing Region in the Northeast Part of China

In recent years, the unsustainable behaviors of straw utilization have led to waste straw being one of the sources of agricultural non-point source pollution. Studying the resource utilization of crop straw is conducive to expediate the development of ecological and green agriculture. More importantly, it has long-term significance for the recycling of agricultural waste, improving the quality of rural life, and the employment of farmers. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), taking the representative survey questionnaire of farmers in Jilin Province, China as the sample, the structural equation model (SEM) was constructed to study the main factors that drive the utilization behaviors of straw resources of farmers and to explore the driving mechanism of the farmers behaviors in Jilin Province. The results show that the behavioral attitude and subjective norms of farmers in Jilin Province not only indirectly affect their actual behaviors through behavioral willingness, but also has significant direct effects on their behaviors. The most critical factors that affect the willingness of farmers to utilize the straw resources in Jilin Province are subjective norms and moral responsibilities. The subjective norms of farmers have a direct and significant positive impact on their willingness and behaviors. Behavioral attitude and perceived behavior control have a significant positive impact on their willingness. The behavioral willingness has a significant positive impact on their actual behaviors. This study provides guidance for the utilization of straw resources policy implications.

Understanding backpacker sustainable behavior using the tri-component attitude model

Research on sustainable practices of backpackers lacks a comprehensive model for understanding their sustainable behavior. This paper argues that the contribution of backpacker tourism to sustainable consumption can be achieved if backpackers’ attitudes and behaviors are understood and managed. Predicated on the tri-component attitude model that conceptualizes attitude as a complex relationship among cognition (backpacker motivations and perceived impacts of backpacking), actions (backpacker sustainable and unsustainable behavior), and affection (backpacker satisfaction), this paper proposes a model for understanding backpacker sustainable behavior. We surveyed 400 backpackers in Ghana and tested 12 hypotheses using SPSS and AMOS software. The findings demonstrate that perceived positive impacts of backpacking predict backpacker sustainable behavior, suggesting that backpackers perceive their impacts positively, and hence engage in sustainable behaviors to reaffirm such perceptions. The results, however, reveal an insignificant relationship between the perceived positive impacts of backpacking and backpacker unsustainable behavior. The results also show that backpacker motivations explain the tendency to behave unsustainably. Based on these findings, we draw implications for promoting “intentional sustainability” by global organizations and destination management organizations.

Materialism's Influence on Unsustainable Consumption Across Social Networking Sites: A Systematic Review

Research have revealed that consumers increasingly rely on information accessed through social networking sites as a guide for planning their future purchases. Furthermore, social networking sites content has been found to induce compulsive, conspicuous and impulse buying behaviors which are associated with overconsumption, economical, social and environmental issues. Social networking sites increase user’s self-esteem which leads to low self-control eventually leading to irrational and unsustainable consumption behaviors. As social networking sites have become ubiquitous and they are having a big impact on people’s lifestyle and overall on the planet, this research attempted to examine the relationship between materialism and unsustainable consumption behaviors over social networking sites users. The researchers looked at the results of the literature on materialism in social networking sites as well as three unsustainable behaviors: compulsive, conspicuous, and impulse-buying behavior. To discuss the problem and draw recommendations for policymakers and academics interested in the drafting of a possible research agenda, the authors conducted a systematic review of the literature. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach led the analysis, which was visualized using bibliometric mapping software (VOSViewer) based on peer reviewed journal articles present in the Scopus database. The findings revealed that there have been few research on materialism and its negative impact on consumption among social networking sites users. The paper concludes with a list of subjects that can be further investigated for future studies.

Social identity positively impacts sustainable behaviors of backpackers

While backpacker social identity remains an important theme among tourism researchers, its influence on sustainable behaviors has received limited attention. We examine the impact of backpacker social identity on sustainable behavior based on both a structural modeling approach and regression analysis. A survey of 400 backpackers is conducted within Cape Coast, a major tourism hub in Ghana, West Africa. Supporting seven out of eight hypotheses based on PLS-SEM, social identity has a positive effect on sustainable behavior, which in turn positively affects satisfaction suggesting that the more backpackers identify themselves with this group the more sustainably they behave. Additionally, social identity has a negative impact on unsustainable behavior which negatively impacts behavioral intentions. These findings suggest that individuals who identify themselves as backpackers are less likely to engage in unsustainable behavior. Findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the nexus between backpacker social identity and sustainable behavior.

How social norms are often a barrier to addressing climate change but can be part of the solution

AbstractWe argue that the behavioral challenges posed by climate change are fundamentally problems of social influence. Behaviors that perpetuate climate change are often opaque in their consequences; thus, we look to others to infer how to act. Yet unsustainable behaviors, like driving and eating meat, are often the norm; conformity to such norms is a major hurdle to a more sustainable world. Nonetheless, we argue that social norms can also be a powerful lever for positive change. Drawing on two streams of recent research, we show that well-implemented social norm strategies can motivate positive steps even in the face of a negative current norm and even in individuals’ private behavior absent the judgment of others. First, appeals to dynamic norms – information about change in others or trends in norms over time – can lead people to conform to the change itself, even if this change violates current norms. Second, framing normative appeals in terms of an invitation to work with others toward a common goal can increase the motivation to join in. Despite ubiquitous unsustainable norms, careful theory-based representations of social norms can help us make progress on climate change.

COVID-19 as a window of opportunity for sustainability transitions? Narratives and communication strategies beyond the pandemic

The current COVID-19 crisis can provide a window of opportunity for promoting sustainability transitions across the globe, but this goal can only be achieved with deliberate planning and carefully designed strategic communication in the public sphere. This policy brief outlines a three-part narrative that discursively connects the COVID-19 pandemic with its potential to facilitate sustainability transitions. We seek to make clear the connection between the coronavirus outbreak and unsustainable behavior, to explain that continuing unsustainable behavior could cause further crises of a similarly debilitating scale, and to frame the current lockdown and standstill as a timely occasion to change direction and to prevent future crises. The policy brief concludes by adapting organizational crisis communication strategies to the current situation and answering questions of how, when, by whom, and at whom communication should take place.

Key sustainability competencies for education for sustainability

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to posit that a key sustainability tool can help provide a needed guide for the many forms of new curricula for academic, public and professional learning communities. The authors demonstrate that key sustainability competency (KSC) research can highlight and provide an array of learning outcomes that can be back cast to co-design flexible, detailed curriculum, pedagogy, practice and assessment structures. They also briefly outline the connection of KSC to education for sustainability (EfS) to provide the educational basis for designing and facilitating classrooms that contribute directly to the sustainability movement.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a review of literature with a specific focus on Glasser's (2018b) promising use of the tree as an analogy and metaphor for KSCs.FindingsSome, for example, Glasser and Hirsh (2016) claim significant progress in identifying a KSC framework (Wiek et al., 2011) However, the authors raise concerns about the impasse that the literature has demonstrated because these stand in the way of the co-creation of sustainable societies by adjusting how we learn and interact with the world. The authors argue that we must realize and disrupt the destructive actions that form their usual approach and replace them with sustainable habits (Glasser, 2018a), and this requires the emergence of a new class of sustainability practitioners with the skills, attitudes and dispositions that are consistent with being wise, future-oriented, interdisciplinary and global decision-makers (Biasutti, 2015; Biasutti and Frate, 2016; Corney and Reid, 2007; McNaughton, 2012; Scoullos, 2013).Research limitations/implicationsUsing Glasser’s metaphor, the authors assert a process through which the future sustainability practitioner might shift their values and understanding such that their habits and norms shift to create a new, sustainable way of being. The practitioner might demonstrate the competencies of implementing transformative change, modelling sustainable behaviour and wise decision-making. The competency of “empathy, mindfulness and social learning” implies critical reflection on one’s actions in comparison to their social context. Thus, reflection at this stage (tree branches and fruits) could create transformation that shifts one’s values and commitments (tree roots); the cyclical process could potentially begin again.Practical implicationsAn adaptive and flexible framework of KSC could provide learning benefits by building the capacity for learners to think critically and tackle complex sustainability problems in novel ways (Brown, 2017; Glasser and Hirsh, 2016; Sterling et al., 2017; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 2017; Vare and Scott, 2007). Innovation and knowledge generation are possible since the KSC could teach “students how to think, rather than what to think, while letting [them] apply this thinking to real-world sustainability problems” (Wiek and Kay, 2015, p. 29). Through the KSC, people could also learn how to transform knowledge into action in their communities (Sterling et al., 2017, p. 160) and create real-world change. This is important, since unsustainable habits that comprise the “business-as-usual” case must be replaced with life-affirming actions and facilitate a new way of being in the world. After all, “[g]ood ideas with no ideas on how to implement them are wasted ideas” (Scott, 2013, p. 275).Social implicationsThe authors have asserted that the implementation of the KSC could have social benefits because its associated pedagogies aim to actively involve learners in transforming society. The sequence sees the individuals’ reflecting upon and evaluating one’s growth vis-à-vis KSC and promotes the development of learning and other habits that betters ones’ competencies (Rieckmann, 2012). Such reflection and empathy are more likely to be inherent to people who contribute to their own learning about the need to be truly compassionate for each other and the planet (Glasser and Hirsh, 2016). In achieving this level of empathy, it is a relatively simple matter then to understand that technology and policy alone are not adequately able to facilitate large-scale and positive change; unsustainability is a problem created by human action and therefore must be counteracted with theories of and solutions to unsustainable behaviours. Integrating a responsive KSC tool into higher education could help build the capacities, capabilities, competencies and eventually mastery and habits of mind and body that give rise to sustainable well-being societies.Originality/valueThe authors summarize and critique the KSC literature with an eye to creating a flexible and adaptive tool for individuals to chart their own path towards being a sustainability practitioner. The conceptual work herein is the first of its kind, and it will assist program who wish to accentuate contextual factors and individual learning objectives into their design.

Are We Overestimating the Benefits of Emission Reduction Measures?

When people evaluate the environmental impact of both “environmentally” and “non-environmentally” friendly objects, actions, or behavior, their judgement of the total set in combination is lower than the sum of the individual components. The current communication is a personal perspective article that proposes a human cognitive framework that is adopted during evaluations, which consequently results in wrong reasoning and the reinforcement of misconceptions. The framework gives plausible interpretation of the following: (1) “compensatory green beliefs”—the belief that environmentally harmful behavior can be compensated for by friendly actions; (2) the “negative footprint illusion”—the belief that introducing environmentally friendly objects to a set of conventional objects (e.g., energy efficient products or measures) will reduce the environmental impact of the total set; and (3) “rebound effects”—sustainability interventions increase unsustainable behavior directly or indirectly. In this regard, the framework herein proposes that many seemingly different environmentally harmful behaviors may sprout from a common cause, known as the averaging bias. This may have implications for the success of sustainability interventions, or how people are influenced by the marketing of “environmentally friendly” measures or products and policymaking.

COVID-19: A master stroke of Nature.

This article presents the status of countries affected by COVID-19 (as of mid-May 2020) and their preparedness to combat the after-effects of the pandemic. The report also provides an analysis of how human behavior may have triggered such a global pandemic and why humans need to consider living sustainably to make our future world livable for all. COVID-19 originated in the city of Wuhan, China in December 2019. As of mid-May, it has spread to 213 countries and territories worldwide. The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, with a death toll of over 300,000 to date. The U.S. is currently the most impacted country. Collaborative efforts of scientists and politicians across the world will be needed to better plan and utilize global health resources to combat this global pandemic. Machine learning-based prediction models could also help by identifying potential COVID-19-prone areas and individuals. The cause of the emergence of COVID-19 is still a matter of research; however, one consistent theme is humanity's unsustainable behavior. By sustainably interacting with nature, humans may have avoided this pandemic. If unsustainable human practices are not controlled through education, awareness, behavioral change, as well as sustainable policy creation and enforcement, there could be several such pandemics in our future.

Endogenous Study on Economic Development, Environmental Investment, and Green Development Based on the Panel Data Analysis of 11 Provinces in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Jin, J.; Zhao, R.; Yang, Y., and Chuan, M. 2019. Endogenous study on economic development, environmental investment, and green development based on the panel data analysis of 11 provinces in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. In: Li, L.; Wan, X.; and Huang, X. (eds.), Recent Developments in Practices and Research on Coastal Regions: Transportation, Environment and Economy. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 98, pp. 426–432. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Chinese President Xi pointed out that the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt is a national development strategy promoting the coordinated development of the economy and green development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the building of the national green development demonstration zone as the only way to break the environmental bottleneck of economic development. This study selects 11 provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt between 2006 and 2017 and makes an empirical study on the relationship among green development, environmental investment, and green development by using a panel vector autoregression (PVAR) model. The results of this study found that investment in environmental governance has no significant effect on economic development and green development; that in the past, the provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt had an unsustainable behavior of exchanging the environment for economic development; and that economic development can significantly promote green development. According to the empirical results and conclusions, this study puts forward the following suggestions to improve the level of green development and sustainable and healthy economic development: establish and improve the mechanism of environmental protection investment, optimize the structure of environmental protection investment, and gradually increase the intensity of environmental protection; actively introduce social capital into the field of environmental protection; and continue to optimize the industrial structure and increase the proportion of green industries.

Guilt and Pride Emotions and their Influence on the Intention of Purchasing Green Products

The aim of this paper was to analyze the influence of feelings of guilt and pride in the intention of buying green products by consumers considered sustainable. Guilt and pride are two constructs that shapes people’s actions to avoid guilt-making behaviors and keep those proud, making it important to assess how these two constructs act when it comes to sustainability-related actions, in this case for green products. For this purpose, a descriptive quantitative research was used, with the survey of data performed through a survey and analyzed through multivariate statistics through the SPSS. The results showed that the emotion of guilt was identified as a stimulus factor for the purchase of green products, as a variable that would prevent the consumer to develop unsustainable behaviors, and the feeling of pride was not identified in the respondents, when researching the influence that exerts in the intention of consumers to buy green products. The result contributes to researches in sustainability field by corroborating and at the same time contrasting with research considered incipient that relate emotions to sustainable consumer behavior, opening opportunities for further research on the influence of emotions in consumers behavior in sustainability area.

Enhancing the impact of conservation marketing using psychology: a research agenda

Conservation marketing draws upon social marketing and psychology to address the human dimensions of biodiversity loss. Behavioural scientists with expertise in conservation psychology can contribute to the design of research projects in this field that utilize a variety of methodologies (quantitative and qualitative), formal application for approval of methodology and procedure through relevant human and animal research ethics committees, and implementation and evaluation of projects or campaigns that are based on psychological principles of persuasion, attitude, and behavior change with the aim of protecting biodiversity. Interdisciplinary projects utilizing best practice in conservation psychology, community-based social marketing, and conservation marketing are likely to lead to improved outcomes, such as reductions in human consumption patterns and other unsustainable behaviors and increases in community engagement. A closer relationship between conservation psychology and conservation marketing will lead to publications of research in high-impact peer-reviewed journals, offering practical recommendations for conservation practitioners, as well as reaching laypeople. Importantly, communicating successes and failures of different approaches, projects or campaigns will help conservation practitioners, conservation educators, tourism operators, community groups, policy-makers, and other stakeholders make informed decisions and design effective conservation marketing campaigns based on evidence.

Evolution of relativistic thin discs with a finite ISCO stress – II. Late time behaviour

ABSTRACT We present solutions to the relativistic thin disc evolutionary equation using a modified description of the mean fluid flow within the disc. The model takes into account the effects of sub-circular velocities in the innermost disc regions, and resolves otherwise unsustainable behaviour present in simple finite innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) stress disc models. We show that the behaviour of a relativistic thin disc evolving with a finite ISCO stress is comprised of three distinct stages which join the ordinarily distinct finite and vanishing ISCO stress solutions into a fully continuous model parametrization. The most important prediction of our model is the existence of an intermediate stage of ‘stalled accretion’, controlled by a single dimensionless parameter. The hallmarks of this evolutionary phase appear to have been seen in General Relativistic MHD simulations as well as in the late time X-ray observations of tidal disruption events, but dedicated simulations and extended observations are needed for a deeper understanding.

Who Gets More Media Coverage for Supply Chain Sustainability Risks: Larger or More Visible Firms? (WITHDRAWN)

For an unsustainable supplier behavior to become a risk for the buying firm, two conditions should be met: (1) stakeholders should become aware of a supplier’s environmental, social or governance (...

Examination of Chinese Tourists’ Unsustainable Food Consumption: Causes and Solutions

Gastronomic tours have become a prevalent form of travel in many destinations and have boosted the development of destinations’ tourism economy. However, unsustainable food consumption, especially the wastage of food by tourists, is severe and has yet to receive sufficient academic attention. Thus, this study aimed to examine this kind of unsustainable behavior from tourists’ perspective to help the academia and practitioners to better understand the causes and solutions pertaining to the issue. Participants’ demographic information and content data were collected and analyzed. Content analysis was adopted to summarize the major themes emerging from the data. Results indicated that tourists, the industry, and government should be responsible for the issue. The reasons related to each stakeholder are shown together with the countermeasures. This study is among the first to examine the issue, which can lay the foundation for further studies in the same research area and help to address unsustainable food consumption.

La educación moral ante el reto de la sostenibilidad

Ante los indicadores de insostenibilidad ambiental y social, se busca un enfoque educativo eficaz que contribuya a revertirla. A tal efecto, se propone una educación moral, que no se centre tanto en contenidos como en facilitar que cada estudiante aprenda a buscarlos, hacerlos propios y los traduzca en compromisos de conducta personal. La propuesta educativa se presenta ejemplificada en una asignatura concreta, que sirve de hilo expositivo y ejemplo de aplicación. Tras una breve introducción sobre los indicadores de insostenibilidad, se presenta la planificación, metodología y objetivo de la asignatura. A continuación, se reflexiona sobre dos de los obstáculos a los que se enfrenta la educación moral en la actualidad: la fragmentación del saber y la dificultad para que los aprendizajes teóricos se traduzcan en conductas. Por último, se exploran dos oportunidades para la educación moral que pueden facilitar ese vínculo: la búsqueda de las causas profundas de problemas ambientales y sociales actuales, y el empleo de la belleza.