IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/recore/v125y2017icp25-36.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are individuals’ environmental behavior always consistent?—An analysis based on spatial difference

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Hong
  • Chen, Feiyu
  • Huang, Xinru
  • Long, Ruyin
  • Li, Wenjie

Abstract

Individuals’ environmental activities are vital to protecting the environment. It is necessary to discuss the consistency of such activities from the perspective of activity space, which is of great realistic significance in understanding regular behavior patterns and in guiding policy design. By questionnaire investigation (N=1509), this research examined the expression characteristics of environmental behavior in individuals’ home-working-public (HWP) activity closed-loop domain through the methods of factor analysis and conditional cluster analysis. The findings showed the following: (1) Environmental behavior could be divided into basic environmental behavior, decision-making environmental behavior, interpersonal environmental behavior and civic environmental behavior. (2) There was a downward trend in the mean value of basic, decision-making, interpersonal and civic environmental behavior. (3) Overall, individuals showed lower environmental protection willingness in public space compared with home and working space. (4) Individuals’ environmental behavior were not always consistent in the HWP domain; 52.85% of the samples demonstrated behavioral consistency and 1.38% of the samples showed low-value consistency characterized by low detection rate, indicating the small number of endogenous non-environmentally friendly individuals. The proportion of samples with middle-value consistency was the largest (41.06%); these samples represented mixed-type individuals and were characterized by high detection rate. (5) Inconsistent environmental behavior in the HWP domain could be divided into eight types mainly found in four groups: “external-control people” (‘high-high-low type’), “self-control people” (‘low-high-high type’), “organizational people” (‘low-high-low type’) and “laissez-faire people” (‘high-low-low type’). Relevant suggestions are put forward to promote high-level consistency in individuals’ environmental behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Hong & Chen, Feiyu & Huang, Xinru & Long, Ruyin & Li, Wenjie, 2017. "Are individuals’ environmental behavior always consistent?—An analysis based on spatial difference," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 25-36.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:125:y:2017:i:c:p:25-36
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.05.013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344917301519
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.05.013?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McKinley, Emma & Fletcher, Stephen, 2012. "Improving marine environmental health through marine citizenship: A call for debate," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 839-843.
    2. Kathy Babiak & Sylvia Trendafilova, 2011. "CSR and environmental responsibility: motives and pressures to adopt green management practices," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), pages 11-24, January.
    3. Lee, Tsung Hung & Jan, Fen-Hauh & Yang, Chung-Cheng, 2013. "Conceptualizing and measuring environmentally responsible behaviors from the perspective of community-based tourists," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 454-468.
    4. Saphores, Jean-Daniel M. & Ogunseitan, Oladele A. & Shapiro, Andrew A., 2012. "Willingness to engage in a pro-environmental behavior: An analysis of e-waste recycling based on a national survey of U.S. households," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 49-63.
    5. Lange, Florian & Brückner, Carolin & Kröger, Birte & Beller, Johannes & Eggert, Frank, 2014. "Wasting ways: Perceived distance to the recycling facilities predicts pro-environmental behavior," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 246-254.
    6. Zhang, Yixiang & Wang, Zhaohua & Zhou, Guanghui, 2013. "Determinants and implications of employee electricity saving habit: An empirical study in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 1529-1535.
    7. Jens Newig, 2004. "Public Attention, Political Action: the Example of Environmental Regulation," Rationality and Society, , vol. 16(2), pages 149-190, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nguyen, Hong-Trang & Skitmore, Martin & Gray, Matthew & Zhang, Xiaoling & Olanipekun, Ayokunle Olubunmi, 2017. "Will green building development take off? An exploratory study of barriers to green building in Vietnam," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 8-20.
    2. Feiyu Chen & Hong Chen & Meifen Wu & Shanshan Li & Ruyin Long, 2019. "Research on the Driving Mechanism of Waste Separation Behavior: Based on Qualitative Analysis of Chinese Urban Residents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-19, May.
    3. Bob Foster & Zikri Muhammad & Mohd Yusoff Yusliza & Juhari Noor Faezah & Muhamad Deni Johansyah & Jing Yi Yong & Adnan ul-Haque & Jumadil Saputra & Thurasamy Ramayah & Olawole Fawehinmi, 2022. "Determinants of Pro-Environmental Behaviour in the Workplace," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-19, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Feiyu Chen & Hong Chen & Xinru Huang & Ruyin Long & Hui Lu & Ting Yue, 2017. "Public Response to the Regulation Policy of Urban Household Waste: Evidence from a Survey of Jiangsu Province in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-23, June.
    2. Chun-Hsi Vivian Chen & Yu-Cheng Chen, 2021. "Assessment of Enhancing Employee Engagement in Energy-Saving Behavior at Workplace: An Empirical Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-18, February.
    3. Anthony Amoah & Thomas Addoah, 2021. "Does environmental knowledge drive pro-environmental behaviour in developing countries? Evidence from households in Ghana," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 2719-2738, February.
    4. Wei Peng & Baogui Xin & Yekyung Kwon, 2019. "Optimal Strategies of Product Price, Quality, and Corporate Environmental Responsibility," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-24, November.
    5. Zhenjiao Chen & Yaqing Liu, 2020. "The Effects of Leadership and Reward Policy on Employees’ Electricity Saving Behaviors: An Empirical Study in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-15, March.
    6. Halkos, George & Nomikos, Stylianos, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility: Trends in global reporting initiative standards," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 106-117.
    7. Al-Shaer, Habiba & Uyar, Ali & Kuzey, Cemil & Karaman, Abdullah S., 2023. "Do shareholders punish or reward excessive CSR engagement? Moderating effect of cash flow and firm growth," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Tarcia Camily Cavalcante Quezado & Nuno Fortes & William Quezado Figueiredo Cavalcante, 2022. "The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics on Brand Fidelity: The Importance of Brand Love and Brand Attitude," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, March.
    9. Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Cristina Aibar-Guzmán & Carmen Serrano-Valdecillos & Beatriz Aibar-Guzmán, 2022. "Analysis of the Dialogue with Stakeholders by the IBEX 35 Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-26, February.
    10. Shiwei Shen & Marios Sotiriadis & Qing Zhou, 2020. "Could Smart Tourists Be Sustainable and Responsible as Well? The Contribution of Social Networking Sites to Improving Their Sustainable and Responsible Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-21, February.
    11. Penna, Caetano C.R. & Geels, Frank W., 2015. "Climate change and the slow reorientation of the American car industry (1979–2012): An application and extension of the Dialectic Issue LifeCycle (DILC) model," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(5), pages 1029-1048.
    12. Ine Hugaerts & Jeroen Scheerder & Kobe Helsen & Joris Corthouts & Erik Thibaut & Thomas Könecke, 2021. "Sustainability in Participatory Sports Events: The Development of a Research Instrument and Empirical Insights," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-16, May.
    13. Mansoora Ahmed & Sun Zehou & Syed Ali Raza & Muhammad Asif Qureshi & Sara Qamar Yousufi, 2020. "Impact of CSR and environmental triggers on employee green behavior: The mediating effect of employee well‐being," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2225-2239, September.
    14. Lin, Xin-Yi & Liu, Jing-Yue & Zhang, Yue-Jun, 2024. "Does corporate social responsibility affect stock liquidity? Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    15. Wang Hongxin & Mohammed Arshad Khan & Jian Zhenqiang & Laura-Mariana Cismaș & Mohammad Athar Ali & Usama Saleem & Lucia Negruț, 2022. "Unleashing the Role of CSR and Employees’ Pro-Environmental Behavior for Organizational Success: The Role of Connectedness to Nature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-22, March.
    16. Dmitry A. Ruban & Natalia N. Yashalova, 2022. "Pro-environmental behavior prescribed by top companies of the world," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(6), pages 7918-7935, June.
    17. Geels, Frank W. & Ayoub, Martina, 2023. "A socio-technical transition perspective on positive tipping points in climate change mitigation: Analysing seven interacting feedback loops in offshore wind and electric vehicles acceleration," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    18. Dan Huang & Jie Cheng & Xiaofeng Quan & Yanling Wu, 2024. "Managerial attention to environmental protection and corporate green innovation," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 1047-1081, October.
    19. Olaf Weber & Rezaul Karim Chowdury, 2020. "Corporate Sustainability in Bangladeshi Banks: Proactive or Reactive Ethical Behavior?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-18, September.
    20. Lima, Letícia Santos de & Ramos Barón, Pablo Andres & Villamayor-Tomas, Sergio & Krueger, Tobias, 2019. "Will PES Schemes Survive in the Long-term Without Evidence of Their Effectiveness? Exploring Four Water-related Cases in Colombia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 211-223.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:125:y:2017:i:c:p:25-36. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kai Meng (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/resources-conservation-and-recycling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.