The Influence of Water Attitudes, Perceptions, and Learning Preferences on Water-Conserving Actions

Abstract

Water conservation is an important natural resource issue, and the focus of a number of educational and extension programs. Inherent in many programs is the causal link between water facts and conservation behaviors that affect water quality and/or quantity. This article interprets the results of a survey on attitudes and perceptions of water resources (n = 2226) from nine states (Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas). The goal of the survey was to assess attitudes and perceptions of water supply, water quality, and factors affecting them. We assess the influence of attitudes and perceptions regarding the environment, water resources, governance, information sources, and demographics on water conservation behaviors. Specifically, we assess the role that these factors play in indoor and outdoor water‐conserving actions indicated by respondents. We find several statistically significant non‐knowledge factors that drive water conservation: perceived importance of water resources and their preferred use; preferred learning modes and information sources; interest in certain types of water issues; views on governance; general environmental attitudes; and demographics. For example, preferring passive learning modes (e.g., reading a newspaper article) negatively influences outdoor conservation, while preferring to learn by taking action (e.g., training) positively influences both indoor and outdoor conservation. These results highlight the importance of a number of non‐knowledge factors in water program‐related behavior change, and suggest a number of factors that could inform targeted approaches to influence differing audiences.

Water demand management in times of drought: What matters for water conservation

“…Weather, rates, income, household composition, housing characteristics, frequency of billing, and type of outdoor irrigation are major drivers of residential water demand [ Arbués, et al ., 2003; Duke et al ., ; Grafton et al ., ; Hewitt and Hanemann , , Olmstead et al ., ; Olmstead and Stavins , 2008; Ramachandran and Johnston , ; Shandas and Parandvash , ; Shearer , ; Wentz and Gober , ; Worthington and Hoffman , ]. Only recently, the analysis has taken into account consumers' behaviors and attitudes and new studies include consumers' believes as potential drivers of water consumption [ Adams et al ., ; Beal et al ., ; Cook et al ., ; March et al ., ].…”

“…Summary studies find that price elasticity is higher for ascending block pricing [ Dalhuisen et al ., ; Olmstead et al ., ], but also that price elasticity is smaller in the winter [ Hanemann and Nauges , ], elasticities are lower for renters rather than for homeowners, and low income customers' demand has lower elasticity than high income's [ Duke et al ., ; Grafton et al ., ; Renwick and Archibald , ; Worthington and Hoffman , ]. Outdoor uses are more elastic than indoor [ Mansur and Olmstead , ], and for smaller properties price elasticity is lower than for larger properties [ Adams et al ., ].…”

The National Water Survey Needs Assessment Program

“…They found that both traditional (rural) and new (urban) audiences have high interest in water resource–related topics and that extension water resource programs reached 15% or more of the adult population in the Southern, Mid‐Atlantic, and Northeastern states. In turn, Adams et al (2013) evaluated the impact of knowledge‐based water conservation programs (including traditional education programs) vs. non‐knowledge‐based factors on peoples’ water conserving behaviors. The article shows that receiving water resource information from extension or environmental groups through active learning increases the likelihood of adopting outdoor water conservation, whereas passive learning such as from newspapers and TV is associated with lower outdoor water conservation.…”

“…The articles in this series also demonstrate the importance of water resource extension programs to be tailored to the specific audiences. Specifically, urban or rural characteristics of the community of residence (along with demographics) are shown to significantly correlate with the preferences for information delivery modes (Boellstorff et al, 2013), water resource topics of interest (Boellstorff et al, 2013), and the level of concerns about water quality (Borisova et al, 2013) and availability (Adams et al, 2013).…”

Can Dissatisfaction Relative to Perceived Importance Affect Extension Clients’ Landscape Management Practices?

“…The authors suggested there was an opportunity to focus on individuals who assigned high importance to plentiful water but who were unengaged in conservation practices . In another study, Adams et al (2013) found people who perceived water quality, water conservation in residential landscapes, and water for other purposes as being important were more likely to engage in water conservation behaviors outside their homes. Other researchers found individuals responded more positively to assertive requests if the topic of the message was important to them (Kronrod, Grinstein, & Wathieu, 2012).…”