Water Conservation Behaviour as a Sustainable Action of Young Consumers from Selected European Countries

Abstract

Purpose:The aim of the research has been to identify the water conservation consumer behaviour in young Europeans. Approach/Methodology/Design: A total of 737 people were studied, mostly aged 18-30, from 16 European countries. A hypothesis has been formulated that consumer behaviours related to water saving consumption are intuitive and not conscious. The study involved the CAWI questionnaire to collect data and the classification tree analysis, the Chi-Square test of independence and the factor analysis were used for data analysis. Findings: The results demonstrate that an informed and responsible water consumption is low. It has been found what characteristics affect the water consumer behavior. It means that even if the consumers apply some practices to save water, the behaviors result from their individual reasons and not from the need of global water saving, namely the sense of social responsibility. Practical Implications: The study covered selected practices applied to save water in households, or during a direct drinking water consumption. The study covered the demographic characteristics of the respondents, their economic and lifestyle characteristics. Originality/Value: Over the recent years water saving has been more and more covered by scientific research. Water is one of the critical resources. For that reason, the actions counteracting water wasting require a collective approach, considering the participation of enterprises, the governments and consumers. The role of consumer behaviors is a decisive factor determining a long-term success of the initiatives of balanced production and consumption; however, it remains little investigated.

Sustainable water consumption and water‐saving behaviours: A review of consumers' environmental and economic concerns in Turkey

“…The fact that drinking water is available for a cost, in particular, ensures that consumers do not consume excessive amounts of water. Eventually, consumers who wish to save money behave actively in their water usage, engage in water‐saving practices, and so have a long‐term water consumption pattern (Jakubczak, 2020). Users not only save money on water, but they also help the environment by averting drought.…”