Integrating the norm activation model and theory of planned behaviour to investigate farmer pro-environmental behavioural intention

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture requires cooperative and coordinated action across multiple sectors and policy domains. However, farmer-stakeholder behaviors and action remain pivotal to sustainable food system management in many rural development contexts. We assess farmer pro-environmental behavioral intention through the development and application of a novel integrated approach combining two dominant psychological theories of behavior change: the Norm Activation Model (NAM) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). We apply this framework to targeted research with potato growers of Kerman Province in southeastern Iran, using survey data (sample n = 381) analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM). The integrated NAM-TPB model provides insight into both pro-social and self-interested motivations for farmer pro-environmental behavioral intention, with the model explaining 77% of total variance. We found that three variables, Awareness of Consequence (AC), Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC), and Subjective Norms (SN) were the strongest indicators of pro-environmental behavioral intention. We recommend therefore that agricultural extension and state-led farmer education should first emphasize awareness-raising of negative environmental impacts of current farming practices within training programs, and second, improve social learning amongst farmer communities through sustained farmer community engagement, thus “stabilizing” a social norm of environmental protection amongst peer networks of agricultural workers.

Understanding Farmers’ Intentions to Adopt Pest and Disease Green Control Techniques: Comparison and Integration Based on Multiple Models

“…Attitude has the greatest impact on farmers' intentions to adopt GCT, which is consistent with the research of Asante et al [77] and Despotovic et al [24], indicating that the higher the farmers' recognition of the consequences of the adoption of GCT, the stronger their intentions to adopt. Subjective norm is the second major factor affecting adoption intentions, which is consistent with the research of Damalas [42] and Savari et al [78]. Since the current adoption of GCT is still a government-led activity, the government provides skills training and subsidies to farmers through joint cooperatives or agricultural enterprises.…”

“…Perceived behavioral control has a positive impact on farmers' adoption intentions, and studies by Rezaei ea al. [25], Lou et al [26], and Savari et al [78] support this conclusion. Farmers' perceived behavioral control over the adoption of GCT mainly depends on their perception of resources, such as knowledge and skills, time and energy, and technical payment capabilities [25], which means that when farmers lack the perception of these resources, they will likely reduce their intentions to adopt GCT.…”

Utilizing Biofertilizer for Achieving Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy towards Vision 2040, Oman

“…The analysis of construct cross-validated redundancy is shown in Table 6. The findings of construct cross-validated redundancy showed that measured values for Q 2 are greater than zero, which ensures that the predictive relevance of the model is significant [32]. Moreover, it can also be seen that predictive relevance for community development is lesser than the use of biofertilizers.…”

Predicting willingness to consume healthy brand foods using the theory of planned behavior: the role of nutritional literacy

“…The theory of planned behavior (TPB) has been widely used to examine various aspects of people, such as to predict organic food adoption behavior ( 22 ), dietary behaviors ( 23 ), also to predict sugar intake ( 24 ), the intention to adopt a healthy diet ( 25 ) and fast food consumption ( 26 ); furthermore, its application has also been transferred to other contexts such as oral health behaviors ( 27 ), improving medication adherence ( 28 ), teaching complementary medicine ( 29 ), pro-environmental behavioral intention ( 30 ) and understanding Facebook user behavior ( 31 ). In this sense, the TPB is used to understand and predict human behavior, particularly in decision-making associated with planned actions or behaviors ( 22 ).…”