Institutional Trust and Cognitive Motivation toward Water Conservation in the Face of an Environmental Disaster

Peyman Arjomandi A. (), Masoud Yazdanpanah, Akbar Shirzad, Nadejda Komendantova, Erfan Kameli, Mahdi Hosseinzadeh and Erfan Razavi
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Peyman Arjomandi A.: Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering (DICAM), University of Bologna, 40136 Bologna, Italy
Masoud Yazdanpanah: Cooperation and Transformative Governance Group, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Akbar Shirzad: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Urmia University of Technology, Urmia 5716617165, Iran
Nadejda Komendantova: Cooperation and Transformative Governance Group, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Erfan Kameli: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Urmia University of Technology, Urmia 5716617165, Iran
Mahdi Hosseinzadeh: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Urmia University of Technology, Urmia 5716617165, Iran
Erfan Razavi: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Urmia University of Technology, Urmia 5716617165, Iran

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 2, 1-21

Abstract: The agricultural sector in general, and in Iran in particular, is a major consumer of water and now finds itself under significant pressure due to water deficiency. This study used the Protection Motivation Theory to detect reasons for the imprudent consumption of water in Iran and to further its conservation. The Theory was extended for particular application to a seriously affected water basin, the Urmia Lake Basin in Northwest Iran. The factors governing water-saving intention among farmers in the Basin were investigated. Three hundred farmers were selected through a multi-stage, clustered, random sampling method. The results of structural equation modeling illustrated that while the original model variables accounted for 58% of the variance in water-saving intention, this rate increased to 63% in the extended model when institutional trust was used as a variable. Whereas response efficacy showed itself to be the strongest determinant of water-saving intention, all factors except perceived severity were significant in both models. Furthermore, the results of a multi-group analysis revealed that the intention to adopt water conservation measures is commensurate with the distance from the water resource and proximity to the (drying) lake. The findings of the study are expected to provide important information for policymakers looking to tailor policies to work in extreme water deficiency cases like the Urmia Lake Basin.

Keywords: environmental risk; pro-environmental behavior; water conservation; institutional trust; protection motivation theory; Urmia Lake Basin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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