Annika Nordlund

Value Structures behind Proenvironmental Behavior

The purpose of the study was to test a hierarchical model of the effects of general values, environmental values, problem awareness, and personal norms on general proenvironmental behavior. The model starts with the effects of the relatively stable structures of general values and moves toward effects of more specific environmental values, environmental problem awareness, and personal norms. A personal norm was expected to mediate the effects of values and problem awareness on proenvironmental behavior. Survey data from a Swedish sample of 1,400 individuals were used in a path analysis to test the model, which was supported, and the results showed that the personal norm could be seen as derived from self-transcendent and ecocentric values and activated by problem awareness. The personal norm mediated the effects from general values, environmental values, and problem awareness on proenvironmental behavior.

Effects of values, problem awareness, and personal norm on willingness to reduce personal car use

The influence of values, problem awareness, and personal norm on willingness to cooperate were studied. The choice situation was seen as a social dilemma and willingness to reduce personal car use as an intention to cooperate since it requires sacrificing immediate personal gains in order to reduce long-term collective environmental costs. Data were collected through a survey to 2500 car owners in Sweden. The survey assessed, value orientation, problem awareness, personal norm, and willingness to reduce personal car use. A hierarchical model, of the effects of values, awareness, and norms on the willingness to cooperate, was tested with path analysis. Data supported the hypothesized model. Values and problem awareness influenced personal norm, which in turn influenced willingness to reduce personal car use. The results clearly showed the importance of personal norm for willingness to cooperate in a social dilemma.

Green consumer behavior : Determinants of curtailment and eco-innovation adoption

– Knowledge of green consumer behavior is important for environmental and business reasons. The purpose of this study is to examine the determinants of green curtailment behaviors and consumer adoption of innovations marketed as green (eco‐innovations), and to analyze factors explaining these two types of green behaviors., – The results from a survey on adopters and non‐adopters (n=1,832) of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) are reported. Regression analysis on willingness to curtail car use and willingness to adopt a so‐called environmentally friendly car are used to identify significant determinants across the behavioral categories., – The results show that values, beliefs, norms, and habit strength determine willingness to curtail and willingness for eco‐innovation adoption. Personal norms have a strong positive influence on willingness for the behaviors and habit strength has a negative influence. The other determinants have varying influence depending on type of behavior., – A limitation of this study concerns the focus on only one eco‐innovation. However, since the adoption of AFVs is a high involvement behavior, the results carry implications for other high involvement products as well., – Attitudinal factors and habits in combination prove to be effective determinants for curtailment behaviors and willingness to adopt eco‐innovations. In addition, previous adoption is found to be a strong determinant of future willingness to adopt., – The contribution of the paper is the two‐sided approach on green consumer behavior and the result that values, beliefs and norms not only predict low involvement post‐purchase behaviors but also adoption of high involvement eco‐innovations.

EFFECTS OF INCREASED AWARENESS ON CHOICE OF TRAVEL MODE

This paper reports a field experiment with the purpose of studying the effects of increased awareness on travel mode choice. One hundred fifteen subjects were randomly assigned to an experimental and a control group. In the experimental group, a more deliberate choice of travel mode was induced and expected to result in a stronger relationship between attitude and behavior, a weaker relationship between habit and behavior, and a behavioral change among individuals with a strong habit. Attitude, habit, and behavior were measured in travel diaries and questionnaires. The results indicated no significant change in the relationship between attitude and behavior and no significant change in the relationship between habit and behavior. However, a temporally extended decrease in car use was observed in the experimental group. The effect was noted for individuals with a strong habit who reduced their car use but not for subjects with a weak habit.

The general public's support for forest policy in Sweden: a value belief approach

In the present study, the legitimacy of the forest policy in Sweden was explored. Based on a value belief approach, the general publics support for forest policy was examined by means of a questionnaire (n = 796). Results demonstrated that the respondents believed ecological principles, such as sustaining natural conditions for native plants and animals, were most important in forest policy, but preservation of social values and using the forest efficiently to maintain high market value were also emphasised. Although socio-demographic variables (i.e. gender and age) had some impact on support for the policy, different values and beliefs reflecting ecological, social and economic interests were more important. By considering different values and beliefs, as well as policy support explicitly, the study provides a multifaceted account of the publics viewpoint regarding forest issues.

Attitudes on intensive forestry : an investigation into perceptions of increased production requirements in Swedish forestry

Abstract In 2008, the Swedish government launched an inquiry into the possibilities, benefits and requirements for conducting intensive forestry in part of the Swedish countryside, including fertilization, genetically improved plant material and fast-growing species beyond what is currently allowed in Swedish legislation. Drawing upon part of that governmental investigation, this paper analyzes attitudes toward intensive forestry over time. The study draws upon studies of points of conflict written in the 1970s and 1980s, attitudes among different stakeholder groups, and interviews with forest owners and stakeholder groups potentially affected by intensive forestry. The study concludes that the diverging opinions as to what constitutes acceptable forest use have remained largely the same over the years. Radical landscape change is generally not seen as desirable, but views diverge over the use of novel tree species and the use of fertilization.

A study of forest values and management attitudes in the general public in Germany and Sweden: does context matter?

Based on the reasoning that contextual variations are important for understanding differences in forest cognitions, this study examined forest values and management attitudes in the general public in Germany (n = 1135) and Sweden (n = 1311) by means of a questionnaire. Results indicated that the public in both countries emphasised similar forest values, and the overall pattern was comparable for different types of forest, although certain differences based on forest type and country were evident. For example, the German public was more ecologically oriented, whereas the Swedish public was more production oriented in its forest values and management attitudes. Furthermore, ecological and various anthropocentric forest values were perceived to be quite compatible, with the Swedish respondents perceiving this to a greater extent than the German. The overall cognitive structure of forest values and management attitudes was similar in both countries, although differences were revealed, particularly regarding attitudes.

Individual Forest Owners in Context

In this chapter, changes that have taken place on an overarching level in society, such as globalisation, supranational agencies, privatisation and restitution, are discussed from the forest owners’ perspective. The forces influencing forest owners and forest ownership as described in Chap. 2 in this volume are scrutinised and interpreted here on a micro level. Urbanisation, economic restructuring, demographic change and new ownership constellations are both drivers and consequences of changes in lifestyles, forest owner identity, place attachment and attitudes to the forest resource.

Satisfaction with virtual nature tour: the roles of the need for emotional arousal and pro-ecological motivations

ABSTRACT Interactive multimedia enables a mediated nature experience in ecologically vulnerable areas. The aim of this study is to clarify the social and individual motivational factors governing satisfaction with virtual nature tours. After visiting the Piusa Caves Nature Reserve in Estonia, and participating in its virtual tourism (VT), 299 tourists responded to a questionnaire regarding their natural and VT experiences. We use a general linear model to explore the effectiveness of predicting satisfaction with VT based on values, beliefs about treating nature, pro-ecological norms, and need for emotional arousal from virtual experiences. Compared to people with a high need for arousal, people with a low need are more easily satisfied with VT, regardless of its weak emotional triggers, e.g. lack of lively impressions, feeling of place change, and connection to real nature. Pro-ecological beliefs augment satisfaction with VT in people with a high need for arousal. Mediated nature experiences offer ways of engaging with nature more conveniently to hedonistic travellers and would likely be rejected by people who seek social interaction and physical challenges when travelling. As VT is better received among women, lower educated people, and 50–70-year-olds, these may be ideal target groups for promotion of mediated nature experiences.

Forest Beliefs in an Urbanizing World: Views on and Usage of Forest Areas Among Persons with and Without a Migration Biography in Germany and Sweden

ABSTRACT Previous studies have shown that environmental values of inhabitants of urban areas differ to some extent from those of people living in rural contexts. In the light of increasing urbanization, it is sometimes argued that these differences are becoming even greater, as people are becoming more and more alienated from nature. In the context of a larger survey study on beliefs about forests and forest management among the general public in Germany and Sweden, the influences of people’s migration biographies on their patterns of forest usage, their environmental concerns about forests, and the expectations and values they ascribe to forests are explored. While previous findings on differences between urban and rural populations are confirmed, we also find variation within these groups depending on their history of moving between the two spatial categories. This study thus adds a dynamic aspect to the discussion on the urban–rural perspective on beliefs about forests.