IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i2p757-d481977.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding the Gap between Environmental Intention and Pro-Environmental Behavior towards the Waste Sorting and Management Policy of China

Author

Listed:
  • Huilin Wang

    (International College, National Institute of Development Administration, 118 Moo 3, Sereethai Road, Klong-Chan, Bangkapi, Bangkok 10240, Thailand)

  • Aweewan Mangmeechai

    (International College, National Institute of Development Administration, 118 Moo 3, Sereethai Road, Klong-Chan, Bangkapi, Bangkok 10240, Thailand)

Abstract

Environmental pollution and ecological damage caused by human activities have attracted widespread attention in recent years, and while citizens’ environmental awareness and intentions have increased, their actions may not necessarily change accordingly. This study aims to understand the intention–behavior gap, based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), by exploring the relationship between intention and pro-environmental behavior on the new waste sorting policy in China. The structural model of extended TPB was tested using sample data from 3113 residents of Changsha, each of whom was asked to complete a two-stage survey. Results demonstrated that perceived policy effectiveness and actual behavioral control positively affect behavioral intention, implementation intention, and pro-environmental behavior. Among them, the actual behavioral control of residents was found to be the most influential factor on behavioral intention and implementation intention, followed by residents’ perceived policy effectiveness. Moreover, behavioral intention and implementation intention mediate the relationship between antecedents and pro-environmental behavior. These findings imply that people with high-level perceptions of policy effectiveness, strong control over actual behavior, strong behavioral intentions, and strong implementation intentions are more likely to engage in pro-environmental behavior. The findings suggest that factors such as perceived policy effectiveness and actual behavioral control should be considered when implementing new policies and campaigns for waste sorting and management.

Suggested Citation

  • Huilin Wang & Aweewan Mangmeechai, 2021. "Understanding the Gap between Environmental Intention and Pro-Environmental Behavior towards the Waste Sorting and Management Policy of China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-16, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:2:p:757-:d:481977
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/757/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/757/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chuanhui Liao & Dingtao Zhao & Shuang Zhang & Lanfang Chen, 2018. "Determinants and the Moderating Effect of Perceived Policy Effectiveness on Residents’ Separation Intention for Rural Household Solid Waste," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Hung Vu Nguyen & Cuong Hung Nguyen & Thoa Thi Bao Hoang, 2019. "Green consumption: Closing the intention‐behavior gap," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 118-129, January.
    3. Thomas C. Kinnaman, 2006. "Policy Watch: Examining the Justification for Residential Recycling," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 219-232, Fall.
    4. Anne-Flore Adam & Alain Fayolle, 2016. "Can implementation intention help to bridge the intention–behaviour gap in the entrepreneurial process? An experimental approach," Post-Print hal-02313441, HAL.
    5. Michal Carrington & Benjamin Neville & Gregory Whitwell, 2010. "Why Ethical Consumers Don’t Walk Their Talk: Towards a Framework for Understanding the Gap Between the Ethical Purchase Intentions and Actual Buying Behaviour of Ethically Minded Consumers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 139-158, November.
    6. Aijun Liu & Maurice Osewe & Huixin Wang & Hang Xiong, 2020. "Rural Residents’ Awareness of Environmental Protection and Waste Classification Behavior in Jiangsu, China: An Empirical Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-12, December.
    7. Ming-Hui Zhou & Shui-Long Shen & Ye-Shuang Xu & An-Nan Zhou, 2019. "New Policy and Implementation of Municipal Solid Waste Classification in Shanghai, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-10, August.
    8. Feng Dong & Yifei Hua, 2018. "Are Chinese Residents Willing to Recycle Express Packaging Waste? Evidence from a Bayesian Regularized Neural Network Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    9. Kotchen, Matthew J. & Boyle, Kevin J. & Leiserowitz, Anthony A., 2013. "Willingness-to-pay and policy-instrument choice for climate-change policy in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 617-625.
    10. Jiafu Su & Chi Li & Qingjun Zeng & Jiaquan Yang & Jie Zhang, 2019. "A Green Closed-Loop Supply Chain Coordination Mechanism Based on Third-Party Recycling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-14, September.
    11. Anne-Flore Adam & Alain Fayolle, 2016. "Can implementation intention help to bridge the intention–behaviour gap in the entrepreneurial process ? An experimental approach," Post-Print hal-01959071, HAL.
    12. Liu Yang & Han Qin & Quanxin Gan & Jiafu Su, 2020. "Internal Control Quality, Enterprise Environmental Protection Investment and Finance Performance: An Empirical Study of China’s A-Share Heavy Pollution Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-15, August.
    13. Zhang, Suopeng & Zhang, Mingli & Yu, Xueying & Ren, Hao, 2016. "What keeps Chinese from recycling: Accessibility of recycling facilities and the behavior," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 176-186.
    14. Wan, Calvin & Shen, Geoffrey Qiping & Yu, Ann, 2014. "The role of perceived effectiveness of policy measures in predicting recycling behaviour in Hong Kong," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 141-151.
    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. Amin Wang & Xi Luo & Xiaojun Liu & Yongkai Sun, 2024. "How to Reduce College Students’ Food Waste Behavior: From the Perspective of College Canteen Catering Modes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-28, April.
    2. Andersson, Ylva & Timmons, Shane & Lee, Maria & Lunn, Pete, 2024. "Going green in stages: Psychological processes behind intention formation and action for climate mitigation," Papers WP785, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    3. Janaina Melo Franco Domingos & Diego Gouveia Marques & Valquíria Campos & Marcelo Antunes Nolasco, 2024. "Analysis of the Water Indicators in the UI GreenMetric Applied to Environmental Performance in a University in Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-19, October.
    4. Yongliang Yang & Yuting Zhu & Xiaopeng Wang & Yi Li, 2022. "The Perception of Environmental Information Disclosure on Rural Residents’ Pro-Environmental Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-22, June.
    5. Agneman, Gustav & Henriks, Sofia & Bäck, Hanna & Renström, Emma, 2024. "On the nexus between material and ideological determinants of climate policy support," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    6. Jian Cao & Hongliang Qiu & Alastair M. Morrison & Wei Wei, 2022. "The Role of Social Capital in Predicting Tourists’ Waste Sorting Intentions in Rural Destinations: Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-20, October.
    7. Huilin Wang & Ziqing Xu & Jingyu Yang & Dan Huang, 2023. "Promoting Physical Activity among Working Women: The Influence of Perceived Policy Effectiveness and Health Awareness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-13, January.
    8. Wenchun Ran & Ling Zhang, 2023. "Bridging the intention-behavior gap in mobile phone recycling in China: the effect of consumers’ price sensitivity and proactive personality," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 938-959, January.
    9. Meng Liu & Ze Shi & Zaisheng Zhang, 2024. "How Environmental Policy Perception and Social Media Use Impact Pro-Environmental Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-20, September.
    10. Huilin Wang & Jiaxuan Li & Aweewan Mangmeechai & Jiafu Su, 2021. "Linking Perceived Policy Effectiveness and Proenvironmental Behavior: The Influence of Attitude, Implementation Intention, and Knowledge," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-17, March.
    11. Kareem Abdul Waheed & Abhilasha Singh & Ayisha Siddiqua & Maisa El Gamal & Mohammed Laeequddin, 2023. "E-Waste Recycling Behavior in the United Arab Emirates: Investigating the Roles of Environmental Consciousness, Cost, and Infrastructure Support," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-19, September.
    12. Cheng-Wen Lee & Hsiu-Hua Hung, 2024. "The Impact of Education on Consumers’ Eco-Friendly Shopping Habits towards Sustainable Purchases: Evidence from Indonesia and Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-30, October.
    13. Xingping Cao & Junlin Qiu & Leyu Wang & Gefen Zhou, 2022. "An Integrative Model of Tourists’ Pro-Environmental Behavior Based on the Dual Path of Rational Planning and Embodied Emotion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-19, June.
    14. Jun-Yin So & Ying Kwok & Christie Lai & Hei-Wut Fong & Lee-Yan Pang, 2023. "Underwater Impact and Intention–Behaviour Gap of Scuba Divers on Coral Communities in Hong Kong SAR, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-17, February.
    15. Xintian Wang & Zhangchi Wang & Yan Li, 2022. "Internet Use on Closing Intention–Behavior Gap in Green Consumption—A Mediation and Moderation Theoretical Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-20, December.

    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. Huilin Wang & Jiaxuan Li & Aweewan Mangmeechai & Jiafu Su, 2021. "Linking Perceived Policy Effectiveness and Proenvironmental Behavior: The Influence of Attitude, Implementation Intention, and Knowledge," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-17, March.
    2. Lizin, Sebastien & Van Dael, Miet & Van Passel, Steven, 2017. "Battery pack recycling: Behaviour change interventions derived from an integrative theory of planned behaviour study," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 66-82.
    3. Yingxia Xue & Honglei Liu, 2023. "Exploration of the Dynamic Evolution of Online Public Opinion towards Waste Classification in Shanghai," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-15, January.
    4. Qiao Liu & Qianhui Xu & Xin Shen & Bowei Chen & Sonia Sadeghian Esfahani, 2022. "The Mechanism of Household Waste Sorting Behaviour—A Study of Jiaxing, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-12, February.
    5. Pham, Dung & Jones, Paul & Dobson, Stephen & Liñán, Francisco & Viala, Céline, 2021. "Entrepreneurial implementation intention as a tool to moderate the stability of entrepreneurial goal intention: A sensemaking approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 97-105.
    6. Ricardo Figueiredo Belchior & Roisin Lyons, 2021. "Explaining entrepreneurial intentions, nascent entrepreneurial behavior and new business creation with social cognitive career theory – a 5-year longitudinal analysis," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1945-1972, December.
    7. repec:grm:ecoyun:202018 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Shahid Rasool & Roberto Cerchione & Jari Salo, 2020. "Assessing ethical consumer behavior for sustainable development: The mediating role of brand attachment," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(6), pages 1620-1631, November.
    9. María José González-López & María Carmen Pérez-López & Lázaro Rodríguez-Ariza, 2021. "From potential to early nascent entrepreneurship: the role of entrepreneurial competencies," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 1387-1417, September.
    10. Daniel R. Clark & Robert J. Pidduck & G. T. Lumpkin & Jeffrey G. Covin, 2024. "Is It Okay to Study Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) at the Individual Level? Yes!," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 48(1), pages 349-391, January.
    11. Jing Shen & Donghui Zheng & Xiaoning Zhang & Mei Qu, 2020. "Investigating Rural Domestic Waste Sorting Intentions Based on an Integrative Framework of Planned Behavior Theory and Normative Activation Models: Evidence from Guanzhong Basin, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-14, July.
    12. Wijetunge Arachchige Deepani Sajeewa Wijetunge & Siti Khalidah Binti Md Yusoff & S.M. Ferdous Azam & Jacquline Tham, 2023. "Bridging Intention-Behavior Gap through Implementation Intention: Conceptual Insight," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(11), pages 1627-1635, November.
    13. Ossama Ahmed Labib & Latifah Manaf & Amir Hamzah Sharaai & Siti Sarah Mohamad Zaid, 2021. "Understanding the Effect of Internal and External Factors on Households’ Willingness to Sort Waste in Dammam City, Saudi Arabia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-18, September.
    14. Xin, Xiuying & Jia, Ning & Ling, Shuai & He, Zhengbing, 2023. "The effect of the ‘yield to pedestrians’ policy on risky pedestrian behaviors: Is it a ‘two-edged sword’?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    15. Malin Jonell & Beatrice Crona & Kelsey Brown & Patrik Rönnbäck & Max Troell, 2016. "Eco-Labeled Seafood: Determinants for (Blue) Green Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-19, September.
    16. Michael J. Fell & Alexandra Schneiders & David Shipworth, 2019. "Consumer Demand for Blockchain-Enabled Peer-to-Peer Electricity Trading in the United Kingdom: An Online Survey Experiment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-25, October.
    17. Kruse, Tobias & Atkinson, Giles, 2022. "Understanding public support for international climate adaptation payments: Evidence from a choice experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    18. Zhihui Wang & Liangzhen Nie & Eila Jeronen & Lihua Xu & Meiai Chen, 2023. "Understanding the Environmentally Sustainable Behavior of Chinese University Students as Tourists: An Integrative Framework," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-17, February.
    19. Morais, Ana Catarina & Ishida, Akira & Matsuda, Ruriko, 2024. "Ethical food consumption drivers in Japan. A S–O-R framework application using PLS-SEM with a MGA assessment based on clustering," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    20. Islam Elgammal & Marwa Ghanem & Obaid Al-Modaf, 2024. "Sustainable Purchasing Behaviors in Generation Z: The Role of Social Identity and Behavioral Intentions in the Saudi Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-18, May.
    21. Katja H. Brunk & Cara Boer, 2020. "How do Consumers Reconcile Positive and Negative CSR-Related Information to Form an Ethical Brand Perception? A Mixed Method Inquiry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 443-458, January.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:2:p:757-:d:481977. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.