Investigation of urban versus rural energy and water conservation behavior in Prishtina, Kosovo

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze the determinants of intention for energy and water conservation behavior in Prishtina, Kosovo by using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) conceptual framework and then examine the influence of intention and demographic factors on the conservation behavior itself. In addition, the present study examines the differences between urban and rural consumers in Prishtina in terms of their intention for energy and water conservation behaviors and their actual conservation behavior. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a qualitative approach by conducting ten in-depth interviews followed by one focus group with urban consumers and ten in-depth interviews followed by one focus group with rural consumers in Prishtina to analyze the influence of determinants on the conservation intention. In addition, the present study uses the quantitative research method to empirically examine the influence of intention and demographic variables on the actual conservation behavior. Findings The findings show that there is a difference between the urban and rural sample populations in Prishtina in terms of determinants that influence their intention to conserve energy and water. While attitude is the strongest determinant among the urban population, the social norms seem to be the strongest antecedent of the behavioral intention among the rural population. In addition, the study finds that the intention, income, family size and place of residence as a whole influence the actual behavior; however, the manifestation of the influence of separate variables on the actual conservation varies between urban and rural population. While intention is very strong among urban respondents and the actual conservation behavior is less dependent on the income level and family size, in the case of rural respondents, intention alone is not sufficient to predict the actual behavior and varies also on the income level. Originality/value The study brings unique and new knowledge about the application of the TPB in the context of small and developing economies bridging the research gaps arising from few scholarly research studying the differences between urban and rural populations.

Decision-making biases in property investments in Prishtina, Kosovo

“…, 2018). The theoretical implications of the present finding are that surprisingly personality traits of investors in Prishtina, Kosovo do not seem to influence the real estate investment decisions, which is because the individuals in Kosovo as part of a collectivist society are more connected with social norms as described by the theory of planned behavior of Ajzen (1991), which influences the intention to behave in a certain way and have less behavioral control personality attributes that influences their intention (Hoxha, 2021). Furthermore, even real estate agents in Prishtina as professionals are more influenced by social awareness and sociability than other emotional intelligence dimensions, heavily affecting the way how they frame information to real estate buyers (Hoxha and Zeqiraj, 2022).…”

Renovation Analysis of a Socialist Modernism Office Building–Case Study

“…In particular, this research shows the identity, the history, the transformations of the city due to the burning, and the destruction of the city or in particular the well-known iconic buildings of Prishtina. These changes are the result of the last Kosovo war, which produced "emergency architecture" [51] that was later replaced by the "Turbo BOOM architecture of Prishtina" [52] by using building materials or components that were not compatible with the architecture or structure of the building, nor with the appropriate technology.…”

“…After the renovation, the ratio of windows to walls was increased to 42%, compared to 20% in the initial building. The glazed areas of the building envelope were expanded in Numerous studies, including those of [51][52][53][54], speak and describe this phenomenon, especially about the collective memory of the city of Prishtina. In particular, this research shows the identity, the history, the transformations of the city due to the burning, and the destruction of the city or in particular the well-known iconic buildings of Prishtina.…”

Antecedents of viewers’ watch behavior toward YouTube videos: evidence from the most populous Muslim-majority country

“…Thus, the strength of an individual's intention to engage in a certain behavior is critical in determining whether or not they will perform it. When people's intention to engage in a particular behavior is weak, the likelihood of them executing it will be low, and vice versa (Wilson et al, 2021;Hoxha and Hoxha, 2022). As a result, it is unsurprising that intention is regarded as one of the most important and widely studied variables in marketing research because an actual behavior will not occur without an individual's intention to engage in such behavior (Upadhyay et al, 2022).…”