Sustainable consumption behavior of Europeans: The influence of environmental knowledge and risk perception on environmental concern and behavioral intention
2021 (English)In: Ecological Economics, ISSN 0921-8009, E-ISSN 1873-6106, Vol. 189, article id 107155Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
This study explores how environmental knowledge and risk perception influence individuals' sustainable consumption behavior through the mediation of environmental concern and behavioral intention. The study combines constructs from earlier studies to form a novel theoretical model, which is tested and validated with an open data set from the Environment III 2010 module, which was collected by the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP). Our sample consists of respondents from nine countries (N = 11,675) in the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). The model indicates that environmental risk perception and environmental knowledge impact environmental concern significantly. Furthermore, environmental concern strongly influences behavioral intention, and these constructs, in turn, act as mediators of sustainable consumption behavior. The findings indicate that in Europe, sustainable consumption behavior can be associated with environmental concern, which is influenced by increased levels of environmental knowledge and environmental risk perception. The results provide a basis for future analyses once the Environment IV module is released. This will be of particular importance for tracking possible changes in the sustainable consumption behavior of Europeans when transitioning to a green and circular economy that is driven by the European Green Deal and EU Circular Economy Action Plan.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2021. Vol. 189, article id 107155
Keywords [en]
Behavioral intention, Environmental concern, Environmental knowledge, Environmental risk perception, PLS-SEM, Sustainable consumption behavior, consumption behavior, data set, environmental risk, European Union, risk perception, sustainability, Europe
National Category
Business Administration
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-54304DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107155ISI: 000698641300003Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85112488222Local ID: HOA;intsam;759183OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-54304DiVA, id: diva2:1586784
2021-08-232021-08-232021-10-01Bibliographically approved