Intentions of Environmentally Friendly Behavior Among Sports Club Members: An Empirical Test of the Theory of Planned Behavior Across Genders and Sports

Abstract

Environmentally friendly behavior has become increasingly important in recent years to reduce the speed of climate change and its negative impacts. Individual behavior, including environmentally friendly behavior, is largely formed by behavioral intentions. This study draws on the theory of planned behavior to examine the effects of attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control on intentions of environmentally friendly behavior. It also investigates differences between genders and among sports. The study is based on data from a nationwide online survey of community sports club members in Germany in five team/racket sports (n = 3,036). Existing measures to operationalize the constructs were adapted to the present research context. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results show that the theoretical assumptions of the theory of planned behavior were largely supported by the data, implying that the antecedents of environmentally friendly behavioral intentions can be applied to club members. Furthermore, gender- and sports-specific differences in the antecedents–intention relationship were detected. This study is among the first to examine environmentally friendly behavioral intentions in community sports clubs. It adds to an increasing body of research investigating environmental sustainability in sports.

The Mediating Role of Behavioural Intentions on the Relationship between Eco-Friendly Perceptions and Behaviour of Guests in Eco-Rated Camps at the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

“…Several studies show that there is need to treat males and females differently with regard to promoting positive intentions. In a study on environmentally responsible intentions across genders, it was revealed that behavioural intentions in women can be increased by increasing perceived behavioural control and subjective norms but not their attitudes (Braksiek et al, 2021). Another study found that consumption of environmentally friendly agricultural food was greater in females than in the male counter parts (Li et al, 2020).…”

“…This implies that attitude and subjective norms are not the only antecedents of behaviour, but perceived behavioural control also plays a part. The power of each of these antecedents in affecting behavioural intentions depends on the situation and context (Braksiek et al, 2021). A study on behavioural intention in purchasing environmentally friendly agricultural food in China showed that subjective norms positively affect but attitude had no significant effect on the same (Li et al, 2020).…”

Holistic Antecedent Analysis of Behavioral Intention among Green Consumers in the Philippines: A Sustainability Theory of the Planned Behavior Approach

“…The demographics section included gender, age, status, area of residence, education level, employment, total monthly household income, and the frequency of considering a sustainable product for use. Section two represented the latent variables of the STPB model [67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80], which are PI and PAS with (4) constructs each, CPV, SNs, AT, PBC, PENC, and PECC with (5) constructs each, to which all were taken from different studies shown in Table 1. The survey utilized 5 point-type Likert Scale (5 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree) to evaluate the different constructs.…”

Environmental integration tool approach: Self-determined commitment and the adoption of pro-environmental behaviors

“…Environmental behavioral intention refers to the willingness of the individual to act and consume in a more sustainable manner. Environmentally friendly behavior is largely shaped by behavioral intentions (Braksiek et al, 2021). For Davis et al (2009), commitment to the environment is a very strong predictor of pro-environmental behavior.…”