How Symbols and Social Interaction Influence the Experienced Utility of Sustainable Lifestyle Guiding Policies: Evidence from Eastern China

Xiu Cheng, Ruyin Long and Fan Wu
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Xiu Cheng: College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Ruyin Long: School of Business, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
Fan Wu: College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-22

Abstract: As the key to mitigating climate change, a sustainable lifestyle has become a focus of environment policy. Past studies have largely neglected the symbols of sustainable lifestyle guiding policies and failed to capture its effect on the experienced utility of sustainable lifestyle guiding policies ( EUSLGP ). To address this drawback, symbolic value was incorporated into a model consisting of social interaction and the EUSLGP . With data collected from 3257 respondents in Eastern China, ordinary least squares were applied to examine hypotheses and two-stage least squares based on the instrumental variable to verify the results. Results show that symbolic value combines self-expression value, relationship consolidation value, group identification value, and status-showing value, and is positively associated with EUSLGP . Social interaction plays a moderating role in the association between symbolic value and EUSLGP . Moreover, significant regional differences are discovered in the identified relationships. Consequently, policy suggestions, covering symbolic value, social interaction, and regional conditions, are proposed to enhance the EUSLGP for other countries and regions.

Keywords: symbolic value; social interaction; sustainable lifestyle; policy-experienced utility; regional differences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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