Adolescents’ Social Media Use and Their Voluntary Garbage Sorting Intention: A Sequential Mediation Model

Pengya Ai, Wu Li and Wuyue Yang
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Pengya Ai: School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No. 800, Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai 200240, China
Wu Li: School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No. 800, Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai 200240, China
Wuyue Yang: School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No. 800, Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai 200240, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 15, 1-12

Abstract: Encouraging adolescents to sort garbage is vital for the sustainable development of the ecological environment. This study investigates the relationship between adolescents’ social media use and their garbage sorting intention. A survey, in both online and paper-based versions, was distributed in 2020 in Shanghai and a total number of 605 valid responses were obtained. This study supports the proposed sequential mediation model, indicating that adolescents’ social media use increased their garbage sorting intention via the serial mediation effect of objective and subjective knowledge and the perceived importance of garbage sorting. The current study and its findings provide important insights into the link between adolescents’ social media use and their garbage sorting intention, particularly its underlying mechanism, by distinguishing knowledge into two specific types and introducing perceived importance into the conceptual model. Practical implications for improving adolescents’ intention to sort garbage are also discussed.

Keywords: pro-environmental behavior; garbage sorting; adolescents; social media use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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