Exploring Digital-Environment Habitus in Italy—How Digital Practices Reflect Users’ Environmental Orientations?

Maria Laura Ruiu, Gabriele Ruiu (), Massimo Ragnedda and Felice Addeo
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Maria Laura Ruiu: Department of Media, American University of Sharjah (UAE), Sharjah P.O. Box 26666, United Arab Emirates
Gabriele Ruiu: Department of Economics and Business, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Massimo Ragnedda: Department of Media, University of Sharjah (UAE), Sharjah P.O. Box 27272, United Arab Emirates
Felice Addeo: Department of Political Sciences and Communications, University of Salerno, 84084 Salerno, Italy

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 12, 1-21

Abstract: This study employs the Bourdieusian concept of habitus to explore how users’ mental dispositions are associated with both their eco-conscious use of digital technologies and online behaviours. The digital-environmental habitus, reflecting such a combination of digital technology use and environmental attitudes, is explored through an online survey of 1188 participants. Factorial analyses are used to measure the environmental orientation of digital users, their digital expertise, and the digital-environmental habitus, encompassing both awareness and behavioural dimensions. We then use a path structural model to investigate the relationship among these constructs. The results indicate that pro-environmental dispositions are associated with digital pro-environmental awareness and behaviours. The existence of digital-specific environmental awareness also enhances pro-environmental digital behaviours, emphasising the importance of educating users about the environmental impact of digital tools. While digital expertise alone does not significantly predict digital-environmental awareness, it does moderate the digital-environmental habitus’s behavioural aspect, promoting behaviours mutually beneficial for users and the environment. Further research is needed to understand how benefit-oriented and eco-centric environmentalism manifests in the digital arena.

Keywords: digital-environmental habitus; digital competencies; environmental attitudes; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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