Better future with better us: Exploring young people's energy-saving behavior based on norm activation theory

Area of Science:

• Environmental Psychology
• Behavioral Science
• Climate Change Mitigation

Background:

• Energy conservation is crucial for mitigating climate warming.
• Understanding young people's energy-saving behaviors is essential.
• Existing theories need enhancement to capture influencing factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate energy-saving behaviors and influencing factors in young people.
• Develop and test a new theoretical framework integrating self-efficacy and information publicity with norm activation theory.
• Provide insights for guiding individual energy conservation efforts.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).
• Analyzed data from 360 young individuals across various regions in China.
• Employed a modified norm activation theory framework.

Main Results:

• Attribution of responsibility and awareness of consequence positively influence personal norms.
• Personal norms significantly predict energy-saving intention.
• Information publicity positively impacts both energy-saving intention and behavior.
• Self-efficacy positively influences energy-saving intention but not directly behavior.

Conclusions:

• Young people's energy-saving behavior is influenced by personal norms, information, and self-efficacy.
• Information publicity is a key driver for both intention and action in energy conservation.
• The enhanced theoretical framework offers valuable guidance for public policy and community initiatives.