IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i24p10556-d463615.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to Examine Pro-Environmental Behavior: The Moderating Effect of COVID-19 Beliefs

Author

Listed:
  • Caterina Lucarelli

    (Department of Management, Università Politecnica Delle Marche, Piazzale R. Martelli 8, 60121 Ancona, Italy)

  • Camilla Mazzoli

    (Department of Management, Università Politecnica Delle Marche, Piazzale R. Martelli 8, 60121 Ancona, Italy)

  • Sabrina Severini

    (Department of Management, Università Politecnica Delle Marche, Piazzale R. Martelli 8, 60121 Ancona, Italy)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and climate change issues present evident interdependencies which justify the spread of connected beliefs. We examine possible changes in individuals’ pro-environmental behavior in light of this pandemic, using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework. A questionnaire survey was submitted to the same sample of individuals, before and during the pandemic. Our evidence, based on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has not led to a weakening in TPB construct relationships, or in related Pro-Environmental Behavior (PEB). Conversely, through our Partial Least Squares-Multi-Group Analysis (PLS-MGA), we show that individuals with greater awareness of interdependencies between the COVID-19 and climate change exhibit both higher Intention and reinforced Pro-Environmental Behaviors. This finding reveals interesting policy implications in terms of innovative behavioral drivers that should be employed to steer public support towards climate-oriented initiatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Caterina Lucarelli & Camilla Mazzoli & Sabrina Severini, 2020. "Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to Examine Pro-Environmental Behavior: The Moderating Effect of COVID-19 Beliefs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-17, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:24:p:10556-:d:463615
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/24/10556/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/24/10556/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Editorial, 2020. "Covid-19 and Climate Change," Journal, Review of Agrarian Studies, vol. 10(1), pages 5-6, January-J.
    2. Artjoms Ivlevs, 2019. "Adverse Welfare Shocks and Pro‐Environmental Behavior: Evidence from the Global Economic Crisis," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(2), pages 293-311, June.
    3. Cameron Hepburn & Brian O’Callaghan & Nicholas Stern & Joseph Stiglitz & Dimitri Zenghelis, 2020. "Will COVID-19 fiscal recovery packages accelerate or retard progress on climate change?," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 359-381.
    4. Stern,Nicholas, 2007. "The Economics of Climate Change," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521700801, November.
    5. Lee Cronbach, 1951. "Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 16(3), pages 297-334, September.
    6. Cameron Hepburn & Brian O’Callaghan & Nicholas Stern & Joseph Stiglitz & Dimitri Zenghelis, 0. "Will COVID-19 fiscal recovery packages accelerate or retard progress on climate change?," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 359-381.
    7. Toph Allen & Kris A. Murray & Carlos Zambrana-Torrelio & Stephen S. Morse & Carlo Rondinini & Moreno Di Marco & Nathan Breit & Kevin J. Olival & Peter Daszak, 2017. "Global hotspots and correlates of emerging zoonotic diseases," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, December.
    8. Samuel Brody & Himanshu Grover & Arnold Vedlitz, 2012. "Examining the willingness of Americans to alter behaviour to mitigate climate change," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, January.
    9. Muhammad Masud & Rulia Akhtar & Rafia Afroz & Abul Al-Amin & Fatimah Kari, 2015. "Pro-environmental behavior and public understanding of climate change," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 591-600, April.
    10. David Klenert & Franziska Funke & Linus Mattauch & Brian O’Callaghan, 2020. "Five Lessons from COVID-19 for Advancing Climate Change Mitigation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 751-778, August.
    11. Botetzagias, Iosif & Dima, Andora-Fani & Malesios, Chrisovaladis, 2015. "Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior in the context of recycling: The role of moral norms and of demographic predictors," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 58-67.
    12. Reinartz, Werner & Haenlein, Michael & Henseler, Jörg, 2009. "An empirical comparison of the efficacy of covariance-based and variance-based SEM," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 332-344.
    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. Luc Van Ootegem & Elsy Verhofstadt & Bart Defloor & Brent Bleys, 2022. "The Effect of COVID-19 on the Environmental Impact of Our Lifestyles and on Environmental Concern," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-14, July.
    2. Nabil Hasan Al-Kumaim & Muhammad Salman Shabbir & Salman Alfarisi & Siti Hasnah Hassan & Abdulsalam K. Alhazmi & Sanil S. Hishan & Samer Al-Shami & Nadhmi A. Gazem & Fathey Mohammed & Hussein Mohammed, 2021. "Fostering a Clean and Sustainable Environment through Green Product Purchasing Behavior: Insights from Malaysian Consumers’ Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-17, November.
    3. Shiela Mae C. Ilagan & Ardvin Kester S. Ong & Josephine D. German & Ma. Janice J. Gumasing & Kyla Marie P. Pabalan, 2024. "Holistic Antecedent Analysis of Behavioral Intention among Green Consumers in the Philippines: A Sustainability Theory of the Planned Behavior Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-23, May.
    4. Rickie Mae Gaspar & Yogi Tri Prasetyo & Klint Allen Mariñas & Satria Fadil Persada & Reny Nadlifatin, 2023. "Exploring Consumers’ Intention to Use Bikes and E-Scooters during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines: An Extended Theory of Planned Behavior Approach with a Consideration of Pro-Environmental Id," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-16, March.
    5. Srisathan, Wutthiya A. & Naruetharadhol, Phaninee, 2022. "A COVID-19 disruption: The great acceleration of digitally planned and transformed behaviors in Thailand," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    6. Liobikienė, Genovaitė & Matiiuk, Yuliia & Krikštolaitis, Ričardas, 2023. "The concern about main crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and climate change's impact on energy-saving behavior," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    7. Rūtenis Jančius & Algirdas Gavenauskas & Antanas Ūsas, 2021. "The Influence of Values and the Social Environment on the Environmental Attitudes of Students: The Case of Lithuania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-22, October.
    8. Weerawat Ounsaneha & Orapin Laosee & Cheerawit Rattanapan, 2024. "Influence of Environmental Risk Exposure on the Determinants of COVID-19 Booster Vaccination in an Urban Thai Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(6), pages 1-13, June.
    9. Hynes, Stephen & Armstrong, Claire W. & Xuan, Bui Bich & Ankamah-Yeboah, Isaac & Simpson, Katherine & Tinch, Robert & Ressurreição, Adriana, 2021. "Have environmental preferences and willingness to pay remained stable before and during the global Covid-19 shock?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    10. Sun, Ying & Leng, Ke & Xiong, Haitao, 2022. "Research on the influencing factors of consumers’ green purchase behavior in the post-pandemic era," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    11. Leslier Valenzuela-Fernández & Manuel Escobar-Farfán & Mauricio Guerra-Velásquez & Elizabeth Emperatriz García-Salirrosas, 2023. "COVID-19 Effects on Environmentally Responsible Behavior: A Social Impact Perspective from Latin American Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-21, February.

    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. Agarwala, Matthew & Burke, Matt & Klusak, Patrycja & Mohaddes, Kamiar & Volz, Ulrich & Zenghelis, Dimitri, 2021. "Climate Change And Fiscal Sustainability: Risks And Opportunities," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 258, pages 28-46, November.
    2. Zhu Liu & Zhu Deng & Philippe Ciais & Jianguang Tan & Biqing Zhu & Steven J. Davis & Robbie Andrew & Olivier Boucher & Simon Ben Arous & Pep Canadel & Xinyu Dou & Pierre Friedlingstein & Pierre Gentin, 2021. "Global Daily CO$_2$ emissions for the year 2020," Papers 2103.02526, arXiv.org.
    3. Rolando Fuentes & Marzio Galeotti & Alessandro Lanza & Baltasar Manzano, 2020. "COVID-19 and Climate Change: A Tale of Two Global Problems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-14, October.
    4. Matthew Agarwala & Matt Burke & Patrycja Klusak & Kamiar Mohaddes & Ulrich Volz & Dimitri Zenghelis, 2021. "Climate Change and Fiscal Responsibility: Risks and Opportunities," Working Papers 008, The Productivity Institute.
    5. Emőke Kiss & Dániel Balla & András Donát Kovács, 2022. "Characteristics of Climate Concern—Attitudes and Personal Actions—A Case Study of Hungarian Settlements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-22, April.
    6. Robert J. R. Elliott & Ingmar Schumacher & Cees Withagen, 2020. "Suggestions for a Covid-19 Post-Pandemic Research Agenda in Environmental Economics," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 1187-1213, August.
    7. Patrycja Klusak & Matthew Agarwala & Matt Burke & Moritz Kraemer & Kamiar Mohaddes, 2023. "Rising Temperatures, Falling Ratings: The Effect of Climate Change on Sovereign Creditworthiness," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(12), pages 7468-7491, December.
    8. David Klenert & Franziska Funke & Linus Mattauch & Brian O’Callaghan, 2020. "Five Lessons from COVID-19 for Advancing Climate Change Mitigation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 751-778, August.
    9. Stern, Nicholas & Valero, Anna, 2021. "Innovation, growth and the transition to net-zero emissions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    10. Paul Malliet & Frédéric Reynès & Gissela Landa & Meriem Hamdi-Cherif & Aurélien Saussay, 2020. "Assessing Short-Term and Long-Term Economic and Environmental Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis in France," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 867-883, August.
    11. Apostolou, Apostolos & Papaioannou, Michael, 2021. "Towards Greening Finance: Integration of Environmental Factors in Risk Management & Impact of Climate Risks on Asset Portfolios," MPRA Paper 106779, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Carla Barlagne & Mariana Melnykovych & David Miller & Richard J. Hewitt & Laura Secco & Elena Pisani & Maria Nijnik, 2021. "What Are the Impacts of Social Innovation? A Synthetic Review and Case Study of Community Forestry in the Scottish Highlands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-25, April.
    13. Massimiliano Mazzanti & Antonio Musolesi, 2020. "Modeling Green Knowledge Production and Environmental Policies with Semiparametric Panel Data Regression models," SEEDS Working Papers 1420, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Sep 2020.
    14. Candice Howarth & Peter Bryant & Adam Corner & Sam Fankhauser & Andy Gouldson & Lorraine Whitmarsh & Rebecca Willis, 2020. "Building a Social Mandate for Climate Action: Lessons from COVID-19," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 1107-1115, August.
    15. Shaikh Eskander & Sam Fankhauser & Joana Setzer, 2021. "Global Lessons from Climate Change Legislation and Litigation," Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 44-82.
    16. Nghiem, Son & Tran, Bach & Afoakwah, Clifford & Byrnes, Joshua & Scuffham, Paul, 2021. "Wealthy, healthy and green: Are we there yet?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    17. Anand, Paul & Blanchflower, Danny & Bovens, Luc & De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel & Graham, Carol & Nolan, Brian & Krekel, Christian & Thoma, Johanna, 2020. "Post-Covid 19 economic development and policy: submitted as recommendations to the Scottish economic recovery group," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 105023, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Chakraborty, Debaditya & Alam, Arafat & Chaudhuri, Saptarshi & Başağaoğlu, Hakan & Sulbaran, Tulio & Langar, Sandeep, 2021. "Scenario-based prediction of climate change impacts on building cooling energy consumption with explainable artificial intelligence," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    19. Karmellos, M. & Kosmadakis, V. & Dimas, P. & Tsakanikas, A. & Fylaktos, N. & Taliotis, C. & Zachariadis, T., 2021. "A decomposition and decoupling analysis of carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation: Evidence from the EU-27 and the UK," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    20. Veronika Harantová & Ambróz Hájnik & Alica Kalašová, 2020. "Comparison of the Flow Rate and Speed of Vehicles on a Representative Road Section before and after the Implementation of Measures in Connection with COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-17, September.

    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:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:24:p:10556-:d:463615. 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.