Rulia Akhtar

Pro-environmental behavior and public understanding of climate change

The aim of this article is to examine whether awareness, knowledge and risk perception of climate change have significant influence on attitudes and pro-environmental behaviour. The study found that awareness, knowledge and risk perception of climate change positively influence the formation of favourable attitudes future action climate change. In addition, this paper also found mediated relationship through attitudes between awareness, knowledge, risk perception and pro-environmental behaviour. The paper argues that people are more likely to accept pro-environmental behaviours only if they have sufficient understanding of the adverse impacts of no action. This study offers decision makers field data to formulate relevant environmental policies and strategies in Malaysia.

Consumer purchase intention towards environmentally friendly vehicles: an empirical investigation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This paper examines whether attitudes towards electric vehicles (ATEVs), subjective norms (SNs) and perceived behavioural control (PBC) have significant associations with consumer purchase intention (PI) and the purchase behaviour of environmentally friendly vehicles (EFVs). The results from the survey questionnaires are analysed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings of this paper indicate that ATEV, SN and PBC significantly influence PI. This finding also indicates that environmental consequence and individual preferences do not influence the PI of the respondents. We found that Malaysian car owners are largely unaware of the greenhouse effects on the environment or attach to it little importance, which is reflected in their PI towards EFVs. The outcomes of this study could help policymakers design programmes to influence attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and purchase behaviour to prevent further air pollution and reduce CO2 emissions from the transportation sector.

How individual values and attitude influence consumers’ purchase intention of electric vehicles—some insights from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This article observes how the individual values and attitudes of consumers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia influence their purchase intention of electric vehicles (EVs) using the well-known theory of reasoned action (TRA). This study analyzed the data collected from 200 respondents from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. These respondents were asked about their views concerning their value sets, attitudes and purchase intention of EV using the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. Findings of this study indicate that individual consequences relating to cost and convenience of consumers is negatively related to intention to purchase EVs. Environmental consequences are not a significant predictor of purchase intention. Conservation value was found to be positively related to the attitude of the respondents on environmental consequences but less intensely with individual consequences, while both self-transcendence value and self-enhancement value were positively related to individual consequences. Individual consequences and self-enhancement values were negatively related to environmentally responsible purchase intention. This article shows that the extended TRA might be applicable to the Malaysian context. The results of the study also suggest that domestic and foreign manufacturers of EVs should also take into consideration the perceptible easiness and convenience of users to recycle and reuse battery by using special materials that are recyclable and not harmful to the users.

Household’s perception of water pollution and its economic impact on human health in Malaysia

Environmental problems are a major global concern. In this global problem, water pollution is perhaps one of the more threatening causes of environmental problems. Water pollution significantly affects public health. Hence, this paper investigates household risk perception of water pollution and examines the demographic and socio-economic factors that influence their risk perception. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed by SPSS. The findings indicate that gender, age, education, income, AWN and ATT significantly affect household risk perception of water pollution. Upon discussing the water resource policies in Malaysia, we offer recommendations that will be helpful for policy-makers to improve river water quality in Malaysia.

Water Pollution Challenges and Future Direction for Water Resource Management Policies in Malaysia

Water pollution is a major problem in the global environment. This necessitates continuing assessment and review of water resource policy at all levels. The main objectives of this article are to investigate major sources of water pollution, water resource policies and challenges to improve water quality in Malaysia. The findings indicate that the major problem associated with water pollution is that human heart and kidneys can be adversely affected if polluted water is consumed regularly. Other health problems associated with polluted water are poor blood circulation, skin lesions, vomiting, cholera, gastroenteritis and damage to the nervous system. It also highlighted that residential, agricultural and industrial wastes are three main sources of river pollution in Malaysia. This article also identified several challenges fronting as rural water supply and sanitation, recreational water and safe drinking water in Malaysia. Finally, we discuss the water resource policies in Malaysia and provide some recommendations that will be helpful for policymakers to improve river water quality, particularly in Malaysia.

Public Environmental Awareness and Performance in Kuala Lumpur City, Malaysia A Case Study on Household Electrical and Electronic Equipment

The aim of this article is to estimate the perception, knowledge and attitude of the respondents towards electrical and electronic equipment waste (e-waste) management. It also tried to identify current e-waste management practiced by households in Kuala Lumpur. In order to ensure a higher response rate, face-to-face survey was employed. In this study, it has been found that 69 per cent of the respondents were satisfied with Kuala Lumpur’s environmental quality, while 31 per cent were not satisfied. More than one third of the respondents informed that they send their electric and electronic equipment (EEE) to charity or transfer the EEE to relatives if they cannot repair them. Only a small fraction of the used EEE finds its way to recycling facilities and manufacturer as there is no efficient take back scheme for consumers. It has also been found in this study that more than 81 per cent of the respondents are unenthusiastic to pay for the recycling of their e-waste. It is interesting to find that much of the EEE was updated within two thirds of their designed lifetime.

Farmers’ perceptions, awareness, attitudes and adaption behaviour towards climate change

ABSTRACT Using responses from a questionnaire survey conducted on a sample of 400 rice farmers from Kedah in Malaysia, this article examines rice farmers’ perception, awareness, attitudes and adaptation behaviours towards mitigating climate change. The data collected was analysed using structural equation modelling. The findings of this study show that 84% of the respondents perceive a decrease in rainfall, while 75% perceive an increase in temperature over the last 10–15 years due to climate change. The study also finds a significant and positive association between farmers’ perception of climate change, awareness (AWN), attitudes (ATT) and adaptation behaviour (ADB). Furthermore, the results reveal that awareness and attitudes play a mediating role between perception and adaptation behaviour. The findings could be useful to public and private organizations in learning more about farmers’ perceptions and adaptation behaviour in developing a policy framework to reduce adverse effects of climate change.