Knowledge or Responsibility? The Role of Media Use on Citizens’ Willingness to Pay for Environment Governance

Abstract

It is not that the public is unwilling to participate in environmental protection, but rather that they lack the appropriate information. The media offers an alternative explanatory pathway to understanding citizens’ willingness to pay (WTP) for environmental governance, but the existing literature still lacks empirical studies on this topic and the intermediate mechanisms. Adopting an environmental communication perspective, this paper divided the environmental effects of media into two dimensions: knowledge growth and responsibility cultivation, and conducted an empirical analysis on whether, and how, media use affected citizens’ WTP, based on data from the China General Social Survey 2018 (hereafter, CGSS2018). The findings found that the frequency of media use significantly increased citizen’s WTP, in which individual environmental responsibility rather than environmental knowledge played a mediating effect; i.e., media use increased individuals’ WTP by increasing the public’s environmental responsibility. Furthermore, this study discovered that traditional media use had a significant effect on the citizens’ WTP, again verifying the mediating effect of individual environmental responsibility, while new media use did not have such a communication effect. This study extends the theories related to pro-environmental behaviors, and provides practical implications for the government to promote environmental governance and sustainability.

Developing ecological piety in pesantren: the Kyai’s cognition and the practice of living fiqh al-bī’ah in Banten

“…The messages conveyed through these mediums also resonate with the daily experiences of pesantren communities accustomed to low-technology environments. Previous research has further validated that the utilisation of traditional media tends to be more efficacious in fostering effective environmental communication (Wang, 2022).…”

“…Once internalised, these personal norms tend to govern an individual's behaviour. Instances of transgressions against these personal norms may not invariably be identified or socially censured, but such deviations typically evoke feelings of guilt that prompt immediate correction (Wang, 2022).…”

“…In contrast, the norm activation model contends that personal religious norms are triggered when individuals comprehend the outcomes of their conduct and acknowledge their responsibility, precipitating feelings of guilt. This sense of guilt subsequently motivates individuals to act in response to a moral obligation to address societal concerns (Wang, 2022).…”

“…Studies within the realm of environmental communication reveal that conventional media channels, including face-to-face interactions and print media, frequently exhibit greater efficacy in fostering individual environmental responsibility and promoting environmentally conscientious behaviour in comparison to contemporary digital platforms, such as social media (Wang, 2022). These insights suggest that pedagogical approaches conducted within classroom settings or through direct demonstrations by religious leaders represent a more effective, albeit traditional, means of promoting ecological piety, surpassing the effectiveness of contemporary non-face-to-face digital media methods.…”

Willingness to Pay for Recycled Aggregates in Concrete Among German Construction Clients

“…This (lack of) feeling of responsibility also influences consumers' WTP. Wang (2022) found that individuals who feel an environmental responsibility have a higher WTP for improvements to the environment.…”