Can the perceived risk of particulate matter change people's desires and behavior intentions?

Abstract

Particulate matter (PM) is a hazardous airborne pollutant that encompasses all airborne particles with diameters ranging from 0.001 to 100 μm. It is composed of total suspended particles (TSPs), consisting of two main particle sizes: PM10 and PM2.5. PM poses various threats to human health because of its rapid mobility and its ability to spread over a wide area. In particular, it has long-term negative effects on such organs as the lungs and heart. China and South Korea, located in Northeast Asia, are representative of the countries at risk of PM, and their populations live with an awareness that the harms of PM go beyond physical risks. Therefore, based on previous studies, this study classifies the perceived PM risks into physical, psychological, financial, functional, and time risks. It has tried to verify the effect of this risk perception on the behavior intention of Chinese and Koreans and examine the moderating effect according to the difference in nationality. The study's conceptual model was constructed by applying Ajzen's proven theory of planned action. Utilizing AMOS 22.0 and SPSS 22.0, an analysis was performed. Following this analysis, it was determined that there was a significant causal relationship between perceived PM risk and behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Additionally, it was discovered that perceived PM risk significantly impacted desire and behavioral intention. These findings demonstrate that when persons are exposed to high concentrations of PM, they perceive a variety of risks that go beyond the merely physical, and they can form different attitudes depending on their nationality. This study greatly contributes to the theoretical and practical implications by presenting more diverse perspectives on PM risk.

Extending the theory of planned behavior with government support and perceived risk to test the adoption of light electric vehicles in Tainan

“…There is little research that tackles demographic moderators in the context of EV adoption, but a study by Park et al (2022) Before conducting CFA and SEM, which are for advanced research analysis, it is important to examine EFA results and conduct principal component analysis (PCA) in SPSS to simplify complex data into fewer dimensions by arranging factors into a minimum set of groupings and represent the relationships among items at the highest level. It can be verified by checking the factor loadings (Civelek, 2018;Thyer, 2010).…”

“…Few studies tackle the effect of PR on BC in the environmental context. A TPB study found that the PR of particular matters related to air pollution can influence BC toward green intention in both China and South Korea (Park et al, 2022). Hypothesis PR can positively influence BC.…”

“…There is little research that tackles demographic moderators in the context of EV adoption, but a study by Park et al (2022) on electrically powered autonomous vehicles showed that key variables such as age, marital status, family size, and educational level can play a moderating role in usage intention while income and gender had no moderating effect.Hypothesis Demographics can moderate the relation between PR and BI. Hypothesis Demographics can moderate the relation between GS and BI. Hypothesis Demographics can moderate the relation between BC and BI. Hypothesis Demographics can moderate the relation between subjective norm and BI.…”

Examining the moderating effect of perceived risk from particulate matter on outdoor sports participants: a theory of planned behavior perspective

“…According to Stone and Grønhaug (26), perceived risk encompasses physical, psychological, financial, social, functional, and temporal dimensions. Psychological risk pertains to the likelihood of experiencing psychological harm when exposed to a hazard (27). For example, outdoor sports participants feel fear of heights during rock climbing or anxiety related to encountering wildlife during a hiking expedition.…”

“…For instance, outdoor sports participants choose the wrong type of equipment for a specific outdoor activity, leading to discomfort or hindrance in performance. Lastly, time risk refers to the squandering or forfeiture of time due to poor choices or unforeseen circumstances (27). For example, outdoor sports participants spend a significant amount of time preparing for and participating in an outdoor sports event, only to find that it did not meet expectations.…”