Communicating Sustainability: Using Community Media to Influence Rural People’s Intention to Adopt Sustainable Behaviour

Md. Shahzalal and Azizul Hassan
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Md. Shahzalal: Department of Marketing, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, Rangpur 5400, Bangladesh
Azizul Hassan: Tourism Consultants Network, the Tourism Society, London SE1 0AA, UK

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 3, 1-28

Abstract: Sustainable development is a big challenge for developing countries, due to lack of effective communication about sustainability to the rural population. This paper aims at building a theoretically and statistically sound model to communicate sustainability more effectively in rural areas in order to achieve sustainable development. To this end, the constructs and items of the hypothesised model are identified, based on a focus group discussion and backed by the literature reviewed. Both partial least squares and covariance-based structural equation modelling approaches were used to test the hypotheses and validate the model against multiple indices after analysing survey data collected from 300 community radio listeners in Bangladesh. It was found that the unique media characteristics of community radio positively increased the acceptability of sustainability communications, which in turn affects the behavioural determinants (popular theory: attitudes, self-efficacy belief and social norms) and changed the intention to adopt sustainable behaviour. Example cases from around the world also support the statistically sound model. The paper also provides implications and directions for future research.

Keywords: sustainability communications; sustainable development; community radio; behavioural determinants; intention and behaviour; structural equation modelling (SEM); developing country (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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