Leveraging Unsupervised Learning to Develop a Typology of Residential Water Users’ Attitudes Towards Conservation

Obringer, Renee; White, Dave D.

doi:10.1007/s11269-022-03354-3

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…To test the influence of these hypothetical targeted policies, we developed five generic scenarios. These scenarios are not tied to specific policy; rather, they represent a generic action aimed at changing the proportion of the various archetypes within the city (see Obringer & White, 2023 for details on the archetypes, as well as the Supporting Information for a brief summary). The five scenarios are:…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the “Full Participation” scenario leads to the greatest change of the solitary policies (i.e., excluding the “All Changes” scenario). In this scenario, the households that were classified as “would‐be participants” are converted to “participants,” which have positive attitudes toward water conservation and are actively participating in programs (see Obringer & White, 2023 or Supporting Information for details on the archetypes). As such, we see a statistically significant increase in the water supply ( p < 2.2 × 10 −16 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By focusing on affordable solutions, it might be possible to engage with these residents that would like to participate but might not have been able to afford to do so. Additionally, given that nearly 50% of the non-white residents in this archetype identify as Latinx (Obringer & White, 2023), it would likely help to run these targeted campaigns in both English and Spanish. That being said, this should not preclude simultaneous targeting of high-intensity users, which often consume more water than disadvantaged groups.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main state variable attributed to the agents is the archetype. The archetypes were determined through a previous analysis using a clustering technique (Obringer & White, 2023). Specifically, there are seven archetypes for consumer attitudes toward water conservation (see Supporting Information for further details).…”

Section: Entities State Variables and Scalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using results from a household survey conducted across three metropolitan areas in the Colorado River Basin, we consider households to belong in one of seven archetypal groups that have different attitudes toward water conservation and participation in conservation programs (see White et al., 2019 and Obringer & White, 2023 for information on the survey and archetypes). This work aims to fill the gap related to the lack of water conservation attitudes in ABMs, while also providing nuanced insights into the role of household decisions on the larger water system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Simulating socio‐hydrological responses to climatic conditions in Phoenix, Arizona

Obringer,

White

2024

J American Water Resour Assoc

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Providing adequate water supply to the growing number of urban residents will be a challenge faced by many utility managers throughout the remainder of this century. Though traditionally, water managers have looked toward supply‐based solutions (e.g., expanding reservoirs), recent trends indicate a shift toward demand‐side management (e.g., encouraging conservation behaviors). Here, we present an agent‐based model (ABM) that simulates water supply as a function of the local climatic conditions and water consumption, which is, in part, determined based on water conservation attitudes. Our results indicate the ABM performs well (normalized root mean squared error <10%) for the study area. Further, we explore various hypothetical demand management scenarios by changing the water conservation attitudes of the households (i.e., the archetypes). This scenario testing reveals a statistically significant improvement to water availability after successfully changing water conservation attitudes to be more participatory. Ultimately, this study aims to understand the nuances of water conservation attitudes and aid utilities in their goal to better manage urban water demand.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Entities State Variables and Scalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Simulating socio‐hydrological responses to climatic conditions in Phoenix, Arizona

Obringer,

White

2024

J American Water Resour Assoc

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Modeling Predictors of Water Conservation-Friendly Behavior Among the General Public: Structural Equation Modeling

Coetzer-Liversage,

Fatehpanah,

Maraghi

et al. 2024

Water Resour Manage

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The role of emotional appeal in water conservation communication: a framework for social media engagement

Abu Bakar,

Wu,

Proverbs

et al. 2024

Sustain. Water Resour. Manag.

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Amidst growing concerns about water shortages, harnessing the potential of social media emerges as a crucial strategy in attempts to conserve consumption While informative messaging in environmental communication has been widely acknowledged, the role of emotional appeal remains underexplored. This study aims to bridge this gap by proposing a comprehensive framework that integrates emotional appeal, evoked through video creativity and multimedia effects. Focusing on the UK context and informed by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), the study highlights the complex interplay between cognitive and affective factors in water conservation communication. By applying Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to a dataset containing 443 responses, the analysis reveals that emotional appeal, when evoked through creativity, not only positively influences individuals’ attitudes but also extends to shape perceived behavioural control. These findings further emphasise the ability of emotional appeal to serve as a complementary aspect that enriches individuals’ motivational framework and influences their inclination towards engaging in the intended behaviour. The study has important implications for improving current marketing efforts and encouraging behavioural shifts among water consumers. By including emotional appeal in social media communication strategies, environmental communicators can build empathy and promote sustainability more effectively. Additionally, this study offers a valuable understanding of the complex nature of water conservation communication, providing practical strategies for enhancing environmental messaging and encouraging positive behaviour changes.

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Leveraging Unsupervised Learning to Develop a Typology of Residential Water Users’ Attitudes Towards Conservation

Cited by 9 publications

References 61 publications

Simulating socio‐hydrological responses to climatic conditions in Phoenix, Arizona

Simulating socio‐hydrological responses to climatic conditions in Phoenix, Arizona

Modeling Predictors of Water Conservation-Friendly Behavior Among the General Public: Structural Equation Modeling

The role of emotional appeal in water conservation communication: a framework for social media engagement

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