On the Use of Nudges to Affect Spillovers in Environmental Behaviors

Fanghella, Valeria; d’Adda, Giovanna; Tavoni, Massimo

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00061

Cited by 45 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…In this regard, our results also underline the role of perceived behavioral control as a relevant underlying predictor of more demanding environmental behaviors. This work is in line with prior research and should be kept in mind when designing intervention studies, which may be not successful if they only address one specific factor, such as identity (Fanghella et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Can a Like Save the Planet? Comparing Antecedents of and Correlations Between Environmental Liking on Social Media, Money Donation, and Volunteering

2019

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Due to the societal dissemination of digital technology, people are increasingly experiencing environmental topics through digital media channels such as social networks. Several researchers therefore have proposed these channels as a possibility to strengthen sustainable development based on their cost-efficient nature. But while prior studies have investigated isolated factors for understanding environmental social media behavior, there is still scarce understanding of the relevant underlying motivational factors and possible connections with more traditional environmental behaviors. Therefore, the present study applied the established socio-psychological model of goal-directed behavior and compared the desires for liking as a fundamental form of digital social media behavior with the desires for two traditional environmental behaviors (money donation and volunteering) in a cross-sectional research design. Within the biodiversity conservation case of the Andean bear ( Tremarctos ornatus ) in Ecuador, we compared the antecedents for the desires for the corresponding environmental behaviors (RQ 1 ) as well as their connections between each other (RQ 2 ). Within a sample of 407 Ecuadorian students ( M age = 20.94 years, SD = 2.25, 61.2% female), we found the marginal effect of perceived behavioral control on the desires for liking on social media as the main difference concerning the antecedents of the behaviors because money donation and volunteering largely depended on personal resources such as time or money. Furthermore, gender emerged as the second main difference between the behaviors due to it only being predictive for the liking motivation. Enjoyment was the only variable that coherently predicted all three behaviors. Finally, desires for liking on social media predicted both other behaviors in robust regression analyses, but were only predictive for volunteering in corresponding path models. The results illustrate how cost-efficient digital environmental behaviors such as liking may be suitable for sparking low-level environmental action, which may entail more pronounced forms of environmental activism, at least when they involve feasible personal costs. Overall, the findings are in line with prior research regarding the less demanding nature of liking, but further elaborate on the importance of gender for digital environmental behavior and correlates between digital and classical environmental behaviors.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Can a Like Save the Planet? Comparing Antecedents of and Correlations Between Environmental Liking on Social Media, Money Donation, and Volunteering

2019

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“…Self-efficacy, primarily of females, is another important factor in triggering diet change dynamics, and is attributed to its dual role on both intentions and actions. Self-identity, encompassed by the self-efficacy factor in this study's modelling framework, has long been considered a key lever to stimulate pro-environmental behaviour 40,41,42,43 . However, recent findings show that self-identity does not necessarily lead to repeated pro-environmental behaviour, and it can cause negative spill over effects 43 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the drivers of a widespread shift to sustainable diets

2019

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A reduction in global meat consumption can significantly reduce the adverse environmental effects of the food system, but it would require widespread dietary changes. Such shifts to sustainable diets depend on several behavioural factors, which have not yet been addressed in relation to the food system. This study links a behavioural diet shift model to an integrated assessment model to identify the main drivers of global diet change and its implications for the food system. The results show that the social norm effectfor instance the extent of vegetarianism in the population that accelerates a further switch to a vegetarian dietand selfefficacy are the main drivers of widespread dietary changes. These findings stress the importance of value-driven actions motivated either by intrinsic identity or by group dynamics over health and climate risk perception in steering diet change dynamics. Main Lifestyle change is considered an important demand-side measure to mitigate climate change 1, 2. Lowering energy demand and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of food consumption with climate-friendly lifestyle choices can be key to achieving 1.5°C pathways 3, 4. Besides issues related to land use and GHG emissions, the food system damages natural ecosystems 5 and pushes the Earth towards the planetary boundaries for freshwater use, deforestation, and ocean acidification 6, 7. Several studies have demonstrated that lowering global meat consumption can significantly mitigate the adverse environmental effects of the global food system 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Diet change scenarios explored in previous studies, which are based on stylized diets or average consumption values, are promising to alleviate environmental degradation. Yet, they are difficult to achieve due to the scale of behavioural change required. For instance, if the world's average diet became flexitarian by 2050, meaning that red meat consumption is limited to one serving per week and white meat to half a portion per day, the GHG emissions of the agriculture sector would be reduced by around 50% 12. Currently, 1.8% of daily calories are obtained from red meat (beef and lamb) in the world's average diet 13. In a flexitarian diet, one serving of red meat per week constitutes only 0.5% of daily caloric intake. The difference is small, but it would require billions of consumers to change their diets for a global change.

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“…Future studies could look at the effects of such programs on the students' biospheric values, environmental self-identity and personal norms. Second, environmental self-identity could potentially be strengthened by reminding people of their past pro-environmental behavior, even if behaviors were rather rarely performed (van der Werff et al, 2014a,b;Lacasse, 2016;Fanghella et al, 2019). This could be done, for example, by evaluating adolescents' pro-environmental behaviors with self-reports (e.g., in school settings), that they most certainly would engage in, and then providing them with feedback about their proenvironmental behavior.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability in Youth: Environmental Considerations in Adolescence and Their Relationship to Pro-environmental Behavior

Balundė

Perlaviciute

Truskauskaitė‐Kunevičienė

2020

Front. Psychol.

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Adolescents today face the negative outcomes of climate change, and their proenvironmental behavior is crucial to mitigate these negative outcomes. Yet, we know little about what influences adolescents' pro-environmental behavior. Research shows that people's biospheric values and environmental self-identity, elicit personal norms to act environmentally friendly, which can induce a wide range of pro-environmental actions. Yet there is no evidence that these factors can influence pro-environmental behavior of adolescents, because this has only been studied for adults. Given that in adolescence, values, identities and moral structures undergo intense development, the question is whether these factors can motivate adolescents to act pro-environmentally. To address this question, we have conducted three studies with adolescents in Lithuania (Study 1: N = 256; Study 2: N = 349; Study 3: N = 905). We found support that adolescents' biospheric values and environmental self-identity were associated, via personal norms, with a wide range of pro-environmental behaviors, including recycling, environmentally friendly traveling, purchasing environmentally friendly goods and drinking tap water. Based on theory and the current findings, we suggest directions for policies aimed at promoting pro-environmental behavior of adolescents.

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On the Use of Nudges to Affect Spillovers in Environmental Behaviors

Cited by 45 publications

References 81 publications

Can a Like Save the Planet? Comparing Antecedents of and Correlations Between Environmental Liking on Social Media, Money Donation, and Volunteering

Can a Like Save the Planet? Comparing Antecedents of and Correlations Between Environmental Liking on Social Media, Money Donation, and Volunteering

Modelling the drivers of a widespread shift to sustainable diets

Sustainability in Youth: Environmental Considerations in Adolescence and Their Relationship to Pro-environmental Behavior

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