This study extends the theory of planned behavior by taking communication factors into account to examine the determinants of pro-environmental behavioral intention in haze mitigation. Unlike other theory of planned behavior (TPB) extension studies, we shift the focus of inquiry from examining the mediating role of TPB variables to investigating the moderating role in promoting pro-environmental behavior. Using an online survey in China, the results indicated that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and attention to haze-related efficacy messages were positively associated with pro-environmental behavioral intention. Notably, attention to haze-related threat messages had no significant relationship with behavioral intention. Moreover, moderation analyses revealed that the interaction effects between attention to efficacy messages and attention to threat messages on behavioral intention vary among people with different attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Theoretically, this study contributes to the literature of the TPB by analyzing its moderating role in promoting behavior change. Findings from this study suggest the importance of disseminating distinctive media messages to audiences with different personality traits, which is beneficial for practitioners to tailor specific messages in environmental campaigns.

As a promising approach to stop the escalation of the pandemic, COVID-19 vaccine promotion is becoming a challenging task for authorities worldwide. The purpose of this study was to identify the effective sources for disseminating information on the COVID-19 vaccine to promote individuals’ behavioral intention to take the vaccine. Based on the Health Belief Model (HBM), this study illustrated the mechanism of how COVID-19 information acquisition from different sources was transformed into vaccination intentions via health beliefs. Using an online survey in China, the structural equation model results revealed that perceived benefits and cues to action were positively associated with COVID-19 vaccination intentions, and perceived barriers were negatively related to the intentions. However, perceived susceptibility and perceived severity had no significant relationships with the intentions. Moreover, the findings unveiled differences in the effects of acquiring information via multiple sources among traditional media, new media, and interpersonal interactions. Notably, new media and interpersonal interactions were more salient in promoting vaccination intention via health beliefs, compared with traditional media. The findings from this study will benefit health officials in terms of utilizing different information sources in vaccine programs.

Due to the crucial role of knowledge in promoting public engagement with climate change, this study made an in-depths examination of the distribution of climate change knowledge among different demographic groups. Guided by information deficit model and cognitive miser model, two types of knowledge were investigated, including actual knowledge and illusory knowledge. Using a nationally representative survey in Singapore, this study found demographic effects in climate change knowledge distribution. Specifically, a series of independent sample t-test revealed that the males had more actual knowledge of climate change than the females. The middle aged and elderly adults had less actual knowledge but more illusory knowledge of climate change than the young adults. Compare to the more educated people, the less educated people had more illusory knowledge but less actual knowledge of climate change. People from low-income households reported lower levels of actual knowledge but higher levels of illusory knowledge than those from high-income households. Regarding these significant differences in climate change knowledge among different demographic groups, possible reasons for these variations and implications for designing public education programs are discussed.