Personal and Media Factors Related to Citizens’ Pro-environmental Behavioral Intention against Haze in China: A Moderating Analysis of TPB

Xiaodong Yang, Liang Chen, Lai Wei and Qi Su
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Xiaodong Yang: School of Journalism and Communication, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
Liang Chen: School of Communication and Design, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Lai Wei: School of Journalism and Communication, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
Qi Su: School of Journalism and Communication, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-18

Abstract: This study extends the theory of planned behavior by taking communication factors into account to examine the determinants of pro-environmental behavioral intention in haze mitigation. Unlike other theory of planned behavior (TPB) extension studies, we shift the focus of inquiry from examining the mediating role of TPB variables to investigating the moderating role in promoting pro-environmental behavior. Using an online survey in China, the results indicated that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and attention to haze-related efficacy messages were positively associated with pro-environmental behavioral intention. Notably, attention to haze-related threat messages had no significant relationship with behavioral intention. Moreover, moderation analyses revealed that the interaction effects between attention to efficacy messages and attention to threat messages on behavioral intention vary among people with different attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Theoretically, this study contributes to the literature of the TPB by analyzing its moderating role in promoting behavior change. Findings from this study suggest the importance of disseminating distinctive media messages to audiences with different personality traits, which is beneficial for practitioners to tailor specific messages in environmental campaigns.

Keywords: theory of planned behavior; pro-environmental behavior; efficacy messages; threat messages (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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