Visiting public drinking places in Oslo: an application of the theory of planned behaviour

This study was undertaken to describe and obtain better insight into pub-going in the Norwegian capital applying the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). The sample comprised 1053 persons aged between 16 and 71 years who visited public drinking places in Oslo. Two thirds of the sample were men. Data were collected by means of anonymous self-administered questionnaires. The majority of the respondents reported having visited a public drinking place at least once a week during the past 12 months. In the applied model, intention to visit a public drinking place during the next 14 days is considered to be a joint function of the attitude towards pub-going (Aact), subjective norms (SN), and perceived control over the behaviour (PBC). The goodness of fit (R2) of the model was 22%. The relative importance of the model's components were in descending order (beta): PBC, Aact and SN. Previous behaviour was included as a predictor in the TPB, and had a stronger effect upon intention than the model's original components. In conclusion, the TPB provided an adequate understanding of why pub and cafe guests frequent public drinking places. However, it is possible that the model over-simplifies the processes connected to pub-going and fails to describe the dynamics of the relationship between the individual and the environment.