Do Consumer's Beliefs Knowledge, and Awareness Play an Important Role in Willingness to Adopt Pro-Environmental Behavior?

Abstract

The research examined the role of belief and knowledge/ awareness about the environment on willingness to adopt pro-environment behaviour by consumers. The research also investigated the control effect of Gender and Education level on the effect of knowledge/ awareness and belief on wiliness to adopt pro-environment behaviour. The research is based on Eco scale questionnaires used to measure the constructs (Knowledge, Belief, and Pro-environmental actions).The questionnaires were used to survey a sample of 615 respondents in the Delhi National Capital Region (Delhi- NCR). Structural Equation Modeling is used to demonstrate the fitness of the proposed model. The research reveals that beliefs have a negative effect on willingness to act while knowledge/ awareness has a positive effect on willingness to act. However, knowledge/awareness positively mediates the effect of belief on willingness to act. The research also reveals that the level of education and gender do not significantly control pro environmental behaviour. The research is one of its kind to explore the psychological and behavioural implications of environmental protection.