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1 – 10 of over 72000Martha Sibley, Kaitlin Peach, Maggie León-Corwin, Pavithra Priyadarshini Selvakumar, Kaitlin Diodosio, Andrew Fox, Charles Spurlock and Kristin Olofsson
Across the USA, local municipalities and providers struggle to reliably supply water and electricity when faced with severe weather events induced by climate change. Previous…
Abstract
Purpose
Across the USA, local municipalities and providers struggle to reliably supply water and electricity when faced with severe weather events induced by climate change. Previous research suggests those at higher risk for experiencing the detrimental effects of climate change have higher climate-related concerns. Additionally, research demonstrates variation in trust in institutions and perceptions of environmental justice along racial lines, which can influence concern for access to resources. Informed by this research, the authors ask two questions: how do Oklahomans’ trust in institutions, environmental justice perceptions and global climate change risk perceptions differ based on race, and how do these factors influence concern for water and electrical infrastructure? The purpose of this study is to better understand Oklahomans’ trust in information from institutions, environmental justice perceptions, global climate change risk perceptions and concern for water and electrical infrastructure.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a series of nested regression models to analyze the survey responses of 2,687 Oklahoman adults. The data were pulled from Wave 3 of the Oklahoma Meso-scale Integrated Socio-geographic Network survey, which is part of the National Science Foundation EPSCoR S3OK project.
Findings
The findings demonstrate the complex interplay of riskscapes – or risk landscapes – that encompass institutional trust, perceptions of environmental justice, climate change and infrastructure in Oklahoma. The authors find evidence that education and income are better predictors of institutional trust and environmental justice than race among our respondents. Political ideology emerges as a significant predictor across all hypotheses.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the understanding of complex dynamics involving race, perceptions of environmental justice, trust in information from institutions, risk perceptions of climate change and concerns for water and electrical infrastructure in Oklahoma.
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Yang Liu, Charlene Xie and Shengxiang She
The purpose of this research is to explore the effect of time delay on the perception of environmental risks beyond time discounting, and thus provide a reference for effective…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to explore the effect of time delay on the perception of environmental risks beyond time discounting, and thus provide a reference for effective communication related to environment and environmental risks.
Design/methodology/approach
Ten risk scenarios across four time delay conditions were designed. Computer program randomly presented different risk scenarios to student subjects. Risk perception was measured through equivalent certain loss elicited by bi-section method. In all, 50 students from Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate School participated in the experiment.
Findings
Time delay makes the subjects optimistic toward environmental risk with the exclusion of time discounting. The more distant in time the occurrence of an environmental risk, the less in intensity subjects will perceive it as a severe threat. Also, there is a noticeable difference in environmental risk perception between males and females.
Research limitations/implications
This tentative research focusses on exploring the existence of time delay effect on environmental risk perception. Only student subjects are recruited for this research. Future studies are needed to extend the population to people of different backgrounds in order to generalize the finding.
Practical implications
Current ethical appeal of zero social discount rate is unlikely to be effective. Time delay effect in people's environmental risk perception should be acknowledged. Such an acknowledgement is the basis of trust in risk communication. Communication effort needs to address this time delay effect to make people alert to long-term environmental risks, and eventually change their environmental behaviors.
Originality/value
The explorative research represents the first attempt to investigate the effect of time delay on environmental risk perception when time discounting is excluded. It suggests a new direction to understand public optimism toward delayed environmental risks, and reluctance to take proactive actions, and thus offers a new insight into related communication efforts.
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Ting Meng, Qijun Jiang and Wojciech J. Florkowski
This paper examines pre- and post-production water treatment practices among food processors and investigates factors, especially managerial perceptions of environmental pressure…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines pre- and post-production water treatment practices among food processors and investigates factors, especially managerial perceptions of environmental pressure that encourage or preclude either process.
Design/methodology/approach
To consider potential spillover effects across two water-treatment practices, the bivariate probit model based on random utility theory is used to investigate how practices are influenced by managerial perceptions of environmental pressure and measured by manager perceptions on water costs, water availability, water safety and quality.
Findings
Results indicate that firms with a managerial perception that water costs are low are less likely to conduct both pre- and post-production water treatment practices, while the perception of high water quality has a negative effect on water treatment prior to use. This study also confirms the positive correlation of the pre- and post-water treatment practices among food processors. Practices also change with firm features including production scope, scale, target market and expected future sales growth.
Practical implications
This study provides unique insights about water treatment practices and generates knowledge to enhance food safety and environmental sanitation in the food industry. Results are helpful to design and provide additional training and educational programs that target the enhancement of environmental and water quality awareness among food company managers and modify food safety policy instruments and environmental regulations pertaining to surface water resources.
Originality/value
Research exploring water-treatment practices in the food industry has been limited. Using a representative sample of food processors in the city of Shanghai, this study contributes to the literature on the examination of internal drivers of voluntary environmental management (VEM) with a focus on managerial perceptions of environmental pressure, establishes the correlation between pre- and post-production water treatment practices and identifies and quantifies the effects of relevant factors.
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Chen Wang, Ran Zhang, Taiwen Feng and Jingyi Tao
This study aims to investigate the impact of environmental responsibility (ER) on consumers' green customization intention (GCI), as well as the separate and joint moderating…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the impact of environmental responsibility (ER) on consumers' green customization intention (GCI), as well as the separate and joint moderating effects of consumers' negative perceptions and environmental claim type (ECT) on the relationship between ER and GCI.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, two online experimental questionnaires and one between-subject lab experiment were conducted to test all hypotheses.
Findings
This study found that high-ER consumers are more likely to choose environmental options in the product customization process (versus low ER). The effect of ER on consumers' GCI is moderated by consumers' negative perceptions of green consumption (e.g. green skepticism and perceived environmental premium (PEP)). Additionally, ECT's joint moderating effect and consumers' negative perception of green customization consumption can be decreased by a substantive (versus associative) claim type in message framing.
Practical implications
The findings provide new insights into the factors affecting consumers' GCIs and have significant practical implications. First, consumers' different ER levels should not be neglected when examining the value of green customization. Second, consumers' green skepticism and PEP could reduce consumers' GCI. Third, the use of substantive environmental claims may also be particularly helpful for companies' communication strategies regarding consumers' low-level negative perceptions of green options.
Originality/value
While previous studies state “environmental responsibility” as a key characteristic of general green consumption, the authors extend that to a green customization process and connect that with consumers' negative perceptions and ECT. In addition, the separate and joint moderating effects of consumers' negative perceptions and ECT were examined. Thus, these findings refine the existing understanding of the relationship between ER and green customization.
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Chengyuan Wang, Biao Luo, Yong Liu and Zhengyun Wei
The paper aims to study the relationship between executives’ perceptions of environmental threats and innovation strategies and investigate the moderating effect of contextual…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to study the relationship between executives’ perceptions of environmental threats and innovation strategies and investigate the moderating effect of contextual factor (i.e. organizational slack) on such relations. It proposes a dualistic relationship between executives’ perceptions of environmental threats and innovation strategies, in which different perceptions of environmental threats will lead to corresponding innovation strategies, and dyadic organizational slack can promote such processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a survey with 163 valid questionnaires, which were all completed by executives. Hierarchical ordinary least-squares regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses proposed in this paper.
Findings
The paper provides empirical insights about that executives tend to choose exploratory innovation when they perceive environmental changes as likely loss threats, yet adopt exploitative innovation when perceiving control-reducing threats. Furthermore, unabsorbed slack (e.g. financial redundancy) positively moderates both relationships, while absorbed slack (e.g. operational redundancy) merely positively influences the relationship between the perception of control-reducing threats and exploitative innovation.
Originality/value
The paper bridges the gap between organizational innovation and cognitive theory by proposing a dualistic relationship between executives’ perceptions of environmental threats and innovation strategies. The paper further enriches innovation studies by jointly considering both subjective and objective influence factors of innovation and argues that organizational slack can moderate such dualistic relationship.
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Naz Onel and Avinandan Mukherjee
Environmental behavior studies suggest that knowledge, in addition to other psychological and social factors, can play an important role in consumers’ environmental behavior…
Abstract
Purpose
Environmental behavior studies suggest that knowledge, in addition to other psychological and social factors, can play an important role in consumers’ environmental behavior change. The purpose of this paper is to understand the relationship between knowledge and various psychological factors which encourage consumers’ participation in pro-environmental behaviors. The relationships that link an individual’s attitudes toward science, environmental values, different types of knowledge (i.e. scientific facts, environmental facts, and subjective environmental knowledge), environmental risk perception, and willingness to pay (WTP) for the environment with pro-environmental behavior were examined.
Design/methodology/approach
Theoretically guided hypotheses and model were formulated and tested with multiple linear regression models. The study was based on measures and data obtained from the large-sample secondary database of the 2010 General Social Survey (n=2,044).
Findings
Results indicated that while attitudes toward science had direct effects on knowledge of scientific facts and knowledge of environmental facts, environmental values showed effects on knowledge of environmental facts and subjective knowledge on environmental issues. The results also indicated that from different types of knowledge, subjective knowledge on environmental issues had effects on both environmental risk perception and WTP for the environment. Knowledge on environmental facts, on the other hand, was able to predict only environmental risk perception. The scientific factual knowledge did not show an effect on mediator of pro-environmental behavior. Also, subjective knowledge indicated indirect effects on pro-environmental behavior through environmental risk perception and WTP for the environment.
Originality/value
Although research on understanding factors influencing pro-environmental behaviors and potential relations to individual knowledge has grown in recent years, there has been very little attempt at distinguishing between different types of knowledge and investigating their potential roles in the context of environmentally relevant behaviors. This study will help understand the functioning of different types of consumer environmental knowledge and their impacts on pro-environmental behaviors more in depth.
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Martin Weiss and Christina Wittmann
It appears as if a gap exists between objective environmental conditions and the respective managerial perception of those conditions. This situation poses severe problems for…
Abstract
Purpose
It appears as if a gap exists between objective environmental conditions and the respective managerial perception of those conditions. This situation poses severe problems for executives deriving effective strategies and initiating successful organizational change. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop and provide a deeper understanding of the factors that lead to such a gap.
Design/methodology/approach
On the basis of the literature from psychology and strategic management, this paper develops a conceptual framework of the cognitive model with the perception process and potentially moderating factors. Furthermore, more precise mechanisms and relationships within the perception of environmental conditions are proposed.
Findings
The perception process consists of three stages, attention, encoding and storage/retrieval, which all may explain variations in how individuals interpret the environment. Moreover, dispositional factors (such as cognitive styles, cognitive structures, intelligence and motivation) as well as situational factors (such as emotion and stress) further cause variations between and within individuals, which ultimately leads to a gap between objective and perceived environmental conditions.
Originality/value
This study not only highlights the existence and the severe consequence of a misperception of environmental conditions, but also offers a variety of factors that could lead to this undesirable effect. Furthermore, while previous research has typically focused on single factors that might influence the perception process, this study assumes a holistic view on the cognitive model and provides more detailed and specific mechanisms on a perceptual gap.
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Izzat Amin, Suhaiza Zailani and Muhammad Khalilur Rahman
The aim of this study is to investigate the employee perceptions of organizational support for environmental behaviours and its impact on innovative environmental behaviours and…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to investigate the employee perceptions of organizational support for environmental behaviours and its impact on innovative environmental behaviours and frequency of involvement in upstream oil and gas supply chain management. The study also examines a new area where environmental work culture has been introduced as a facilitator on the relationship between employees’ perceptions and engagement in supply chain management.
Design/methodology/approach
Self-administered questionnaires were used for collecting data from supply chain managers in production arrangement contractor and service provider company in Kuala Lumpur. Partial least squares was used for data analysis.
Findings
The findings reveal that supervisory support for environmental initiatives and environmental training is positively related to employees’ perception of organizational support for environmental behaviours, while rewards provided by the organization for environmental behaviours are not associated with it. The employees’ perceptions of organizational support for environmental behaviours have a significant impact on employees’ engagement in environmental behaviours in both forms of employees’ frequency of involvement and employees’ innovative environmental behaviours. The findings also show that environmental work culture moderates positively the impacts of organization’s support practices (supervisory support for environmental initiatives and rewards provided by the organization for environmental) on employees’ perception of organizational support for environmental behaviours.
Originality/value
The study critically examines the possible impact of enablers of engagement in environmental behaviours and how employees’ perceptions of organizational support reflect their engagement towards environmental behaviours of the organizational practices. The findings are useful for supply chain management practitioners in terms of exerting environmental behaviours and facilitating employees’ environmental behaviours in the upstream oil and gas supply chain management sector.
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Tomi Amberla, Lei Wang, Heikki Juslin, Rajat Panwar, Eric Hansen and Roy Anderson
The basic purpose of this research is to compare and describe various aspects related to student perceptions of forest industry CR performance in Finland and the USA.
Abstract
Purpose
The basic purpose of this research is to compare and describe various aspects related to student perceptions of forest industry CR performance in Finland and the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
With a quantitative research method, this study investigated 568 students. CSR and CSR reporting are the fundamental concepts that shape the development of the hypotheses and thus are integral to this empirical study.
Findings
Finnish students have a stronger belief that reporting is reliable and open than their US counterparts. Finnish students show more positive views on the way forest industry companies implement environmental responsibility than their US counterparts. US students show more positive views on social responsibility, especially those connected with stakeholder relations, than their Finnish counterparts.
Originality/value
The obvious connections between reporting views and perceptions of corporate responsibility highlight the significance of reliable reporting in the context of CR. Major fields of study significantly affected student perceptions of CR. The results of the study can help schools and enterprises to design proper CR‐related education courses or programs. Results of this study indicate that the CR weakness of the industry still lies in environmental responsibility. Thus, while forest industry companies should strive to apply a multi‐dimensional CR strategy, emphasis should still be on the environmental component.
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M. Rosario González-Rodríguez, M. Carmen Díaz-Fernández and Xavier Font
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of customers’ environmental concerns, customers’ perceptions of a hotel’s environmental practices and of the hotels’…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of customers’ environmental concerns, customers’ perceptions of a hotel’s environmental practices and of the hotels’ environmentally friendly images, on customers’ willingness to pay a price premium to stay at environmentally friendly hotels.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical framework comprises both social identity theory and value-belief-norm theory. The data were collected through a survey of 454 customers staying at eco-friendly hotels in Spain. The research model is tested by using a structural equation modelling approach.
Findings
The findings illustrate that customers’ environmental concerns have a greater explanatory value on their willingness to pay a price premium than do their perceptions of the hotels’ environmental practices. Furthermore, these causal relationships are similar in magnitude when considering the mediating effects of the hotels’ eco-friendly image and the environmental practices.
Research limitations/implications
The empirical findings provide managers with a better understanding of how customers’ environmental concerns and their own sense of identification with environmentally friendly hotels influence customers’ behavioural intentions towards willingness to pay a premium.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the literature by highlighting those cognitive processes that influence the customers’ willingness to pay a price premium to stay at environmentally friendly hotels. Hence, the study provides valuable information to hotel managers.
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