Pro-environmental behavior (PEB), also known as environmentally-conscious, green or sustainable behavior, plays an important role in transitioning to a sustainable society. Toward that end, environmental education and dissemination of environmental information can be key to inducing consciousness and changed behavior among people. 1 Department of Urban Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 3 (current affiliation) School of Information Networking for Innovation and Design, Toyo University, 2 (current affiliation) Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chiang Mai University, 1. Introduction Key words: information provision, life cycle thinking, pro-environmental behavior, refill products, The concept of life cycle thinking (LCT) is essential for sustainable consumption and product development. A thorough evaluation of its impacts on people’s environmental consciousness and behavior is still lacking, however, as is people’s understanding of the LCT concept. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of LCT on people’s attitudes and behaviors, using an information-provision strategy, and to compare the effects of LCT-based information with other types of information provision. LCT-based and alternative information were created for promoting two pro-environmental behaviors: waste separation and refill product purchase. Designed information was distributed through a web-based survey conducted in Bangkok, Thailand and its vicinity. The LCT-based information about both waste separation and refill products had significant impacts on improving the respondents’ attitudes toward the target behaviors, but its effects on behavior improvement in both cases were insignificant. Compared with the alternative information provided, the LCT-based information was significantly more useful in relation to both target behaviors. The results of the present study suggest the possibility and opportunity for using the LCT concept for both promotion of and education on sustainable consumption. waste separation Information provision has shown its efficacy in fostering behavioral change; it helps people understand details on how to engage in new behaviors and the effectiveness of behavioral changes (Schultz, 2002; Kaiser & Fuhrer, 2003). Information and knowledge can be categorized into four types: procedural, declarative, impact and social-norm (Kaiser & Fuhrer, 2003). Procedural knowledge refers to information about how to perform or achieve a particular behavior, e.g., how to 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan 239, Huay Kaew Road, Muang District, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand, 1-7-11 Akabanedai, Kita-ku, Tokyo 115-8650, Japan *E-mail: kiyo@env.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp recycle (Schultz, 2002). Declarative knowledge is the ability to provide facts on something, e.g., what climate change is. Impact or effectiveness knowledge refers to that on consequences of actions, e.g., the environmental impact of using bottled water (Bolderdijk et al., 2013). Lastly, knowledge of social norms, particularly descriptive norms, includes information about what others do, e.g., how many people use their own cup or tumbler at cafes (Lee et al., 2015). Reports on the efficacy of information provision on behavioral change vary depending on information type and target behavior. Procedural knowledge has been widely provided to promote recycling behavior. It can increase the level of people’s knowledge on recycling and raise their recycling rates even from low levels. Lack of this type of knowledge is, however, seen as a barrier to recycling (Schultz, 1999, 2002). Social descriptive norms have been reported as a 2021 AIRIES 57 Global Environmental Research 25/2021: 057–064 printed in Japan Abstract Effect of Life Cycle Thinking-based Information on Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors in Bangkok, Thailand Sarunnoud PHUPHISITH1,2, Kiyo KURISU1* and Keisuke HANAKI1,3
元のページ ../index.html#63