IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i13p7851-d848385.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Perception of Environmental Information Disclosure on Rural Residents’ Pro-Environmental Behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Yongliang Yang

    (School of Economics and Management, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
    Silk and Fashion Culture Research Center of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China)

  • Yuting Zhu

    (School of Economics and Management, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China)

  • Xiaopeng Wang

    (School of Economics and Management, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China)

  • Yi Li

    (Fashion Department, DongHai Academy, Collaborative Innovation Center of Port Economy, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China)

Abstract

Rural residents’ pro-environmental behavior plays a critical role in rural environmental governance. This paper examines how the perception of government environmental information disclosure (EID) can promote rural residents’ pro-environmental behavior (PEB) using a questionnaire survey. Using Zhejiang province of China as a case study, we designed a four-stage mixed sampling method, which yielded 783 valid responses. We used ordinary least squares (OLS), an ordinal logit model and a mediation effect model to draw our conclusions. The results indicated that the EID had a positive impact on the PEB of rural residents. It is also evident that personal environmental concerns (PECs) play a partially mediating role between EID and PEB. Moreover, the impact of EID on PEB is heterogeneous in terms of residents’ age and workplace. This research contributes to insights into the promotion of guiding rural residents’ PEB and improving ecological environment management.

Suggested Citation

  • Yongliang Yang & Yuting Zhu & Xiaopeng Wang & Yi Li, 2022. "The Perception of Environmental Information Disclosure on Rural Residents’ Pro-Environmental Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-22, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:13:p:7851-:d:848385
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7851/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7851/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jinchen Xie & Chuntian Lu, 2022. "Relations among Pro-Environmental Behavior, Environmental Knowledge, Environmental Perception, and Post-Materialistic Values in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-11, January.
    2. Farrow, Katherine & Grolleau, Gilles & Ibanez, Lisette, 2017. "Social Norms and Pro-environmental Behavior: A Review of the Evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 1-13.
    3. Die Wu & Hafeezullah Memon, 2022. "Public Pressure, Environmental Policy Uncertainty, and Enterprises’ Environmental Information Disclosure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-18, June.
    4. Mohanty, Pradeep Kumar & Patro, Archana & Harindranath, R.M. & Senthil Kumar, N. & Panda, Debadutta Kumar & Dubey, Ritesh, 2021. "Perceived government initiatives: Scale development, validation and impact on consumers' pro-environmental behaviour," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    5. Arı, Erkan & Yılmaz, Veysel, 2016. "A proposed structural model for housewives' recycling behavior: A case study from Turkey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 132-142.
    6. Hang Yin & Yixiong Huang & Kuiming Wang, 2021. "How Do Environmental Concerns and Governance Performance Affect Public Environmental Participation: A Case Study of Waste Sorting in Urban China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-16, September.
    7. Patrick Puhani, 2000. "The Heckman Correction for Sample Selection and Its Critique," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 53-68, February.
    8. Saari, Ulla A. & Damberg, Svenja & Frömbling, Lena & Ringle, Christian M., 2021. "Sustainable consumption behavior of Europeans: The influence of environmental knowledge and risk perception on environmental concern and behavioral intention," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    9. Filippini, Massimo & Wekhof, Tobias, 2021. "The effect of culture on energy efficient vehicle ownership," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    10. Wei-Ta Fang & Eric Ng & Mei-Chuan Chang, 2017. "Physical Outdoor Activity versus Indoor Activity: Their Influence on Environmental Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-12, July.
    11. Huiling Wang & Ying Ma & Shaoxiong Yang & Mansoor Ahmed Koondhar & Rong Kong, 2020. "The Spillover Influence of Household Waste Sorting on Green Consumption Behavior by Mediation of Environmental Concern: Evidence from Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-17, December.
    12. Tatsuo Suwa & Takehiro Usui, 2007. "Estimation of garbage reduction and recycling promotion under the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law and garbage pricing," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 8(3), pages 239-254, September.
    13. Yingxin Chen & Jing Zhang & Pandu R. Tadikamalla & Xutong Gao, 2019. "The Relationship among Government, Enterprise, and Public in Environmental Governance from the Perspective of Multi-Player Evolutionary Game," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    14. Farrow, Katherine & Grolleau, Gilles & Ibanez, Lisette, 2017. "Social Norms and Pro-environmental Behavior: A Review of the Evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 1-13.
    15. Yongliang Yang & Jing Fang & Wen Wang & Yan Li & Yi Li, 2021. "The Impact of Air Quality on Effective Labor Supply: Based on the Survey Data of Zhejiang Province in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-22, April.
    16. Huilin Wang & Aweewan Mangmeechai, 2021. "Understanding the Gap between Environmental Intention and Pro-Environmental Behavior towards the Waste Sorting and Management Policy of China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-16, January.
    17. Crociata, Alessandro & Agovino, Massimiliano & Sacco, Pier Luigi, 2015. "Recycling waste: Does culture matter?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 40-47.
    18. Quaglione, Davide & Cassetta, Ernesto & Crociata, Alessandro & Sarra, Alessandro, 2017. "Exploring additional determinants of energy-saving behaviour: The influence of individuals' participation in cultural activities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 503-511.
    19. Abida Begum & Liu Jingwei & Maqsood Haider & Muhammad Maroof Ajmal & Salim Khan & Heesup Han, 2021. "Impact of Environmental Moral Education on Pro-Environmental Behaviour: Do Psychological Empowerment and Islamic Religiosity Matter?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-19, February.
    20. Qiang Liu & Toshiaki Yamada & Hang Liu & Li Lin & Qiaoling Fang, 2022. "Healthy Behavior and Environmental Behavior Correlate with Bicycle Commuting," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-12, March.
    21. Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2021. "Education and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours: A nonparametric regression discontinuity analysis of a major schooling reform in England and Wales," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    22. Juan-José Villanueva-Álvaro & José Mondéjar-Jiménez & Francisco-José Sáez-Martínez, 2017. "Rural Tourism: Development, Management and Sustainability in Rural Establishments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-8, May.
    23. Ruixia Han & Jian Xu, 2020. "A Comparative Study of the Role of Interpersonal Communication, Traditional Media and Social Media in Pro-Environmental Behavior: A China-Based Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-21, March.
    24. Ming, Yaxin & Deng, Huixin & Wu, Xiaoyue, 2022. "The negative effect of air pollution on people's pro-environmental behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 72-87.
    25. Qinyuan Wan & Wencui Du, 2022. "Social Capital, Environmental Knowledge, and Pro-Environmental Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-17, January.
    26. Chunjiang An & Mengfan Cai & Christophe Guy, 2020. "Rural Sustainable Environmental Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-5, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yong Chen & Li Liu & Chao Li & Yangfei Huang & Qiaojie Luo, 2023. "Information Disclosure Impacts Intention to Consume Man-Made Meat: Evidence from Urban Residents’ Intention to Man-Made Meat in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Menglei Jiang & Yong Liu & Bo Xia & Shiwang Yu, 2025. "The Role of Environmental Knowledge and Perceived Ecological Benefits in Shaping Farmers’ Pro-Environmental Behaviour Towards Rural Solid Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-20, June.
    3. Yi Feng & Yu Feng & Ziyang Liu, 2025. "Influencing Factors of Residents’ Green Perception Under Urban–Rural Differences: A Socio-Ecological Model Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-36, April.
    4. Sofia Gomes & João M. Lopes, 2023. "Insights for Pro-Sustainable Tourist Behavior: The Role of Sustainable Destination Information and Pro-Sustainable Tourist Habits," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-17, May.
    5. Xiuyun Yang & Qi Han, 2023. "Nonlinear Effects of Environmental Data Disclosure on Urban Pollution Emissions: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-18, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrea Guazzini & Marina Baroni & Maria Fiorenza & Sofia Sprugnoli & Giulia Valdrighi & Mirko Duradoni, 2025. "Development and Validation of the New Environmental Locus of Control (NE-LOC) Scale: A Novel Measure of Internal, External, and Community Locus of Control for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-23, July.
    2. Savari, Moslem & Ghezi, Mohammadamin & Molavi, Homa, 2025. "Social capital and behavioral response to water scarcity: Sustainable agriculture policies pathways for adopting dry direct-seeded rice," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    3. Hong Tian & Xinyu Liu, 2022. "Pro-Environmental Behavior Research: Theoretical Progress and Future Directions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-16, May.
    4. Sylwia Słupik & Joanna Kos-Łabędowicz & Joanna Trzęsiok, 2021. "How to Encourage Energy Savings Behaviours? The Most Effective Incentives from the Perspective of European Consumers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-25, November.
    5. Murat Okumah & Julia Martin-Ortega & Paula Novo & Pippa J. Chapman, 2020. "Revisiting the Determinants of Pro-Environmental Behaviour to Inform Land Management Policy: A Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Model Application," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-33, April.
    6. Luisa Corrado & Andrea Fazio & Alessandra Pelloni, 2020. "Pro-environmental attitudes, local environmental conditions and recycling behavior," Working Paper series 20-21, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis, revised Nov 2021.
    7. Bora Ly, 2024. "Understanding pro-environmental behavior: the effects of social influence and environmental awareness in Cambodian context," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 14(4), pages 710-719, December.
    8. Fanghella, Valeria & Ibanez, Lisette & Thøgersen, John, 2025. "What you don't know, can't hurt you: Avoiding donation requests for environmental causes," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    9. Bartels, Lara & Kesternich, Martin, 2022. "Motivate the crowd or crowd- them out? The impact of local government spending on the voluntary provision of a green public good," ZEW Discussion Papers 22-040, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Schleich, Joachim & Alsheimer, Sven, 2024. "The relationship between willingness to pay and carbon footprint knowledge: Are individuals willing to pay more to offset their carbon footprint if they learn about its size and distance to the 1.5 °C," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    11. Grolleau, Gilles & Ibanez, Lisette & Mzoughi, Naoufel, 2020. "Moral judgment of environmental harm caused by a single versus multiple wrongdoers: A survey experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    12. Ming, Yaxin & Deng, Huixin & Wu, Xiaoyue, 2022. "The negative effect of air pollution on people's pro-environmental behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 72-87.
    13. Maccarrone, Giovanni & Marini, Marco A. & Tarola, Ornella, 2023. "Shop Until You Drop: the Unexpected Effects of Anticonsumerism and Environmentalism," FEEM Working Papers 330384, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    14. Karoline Gamma & Robert Mai & Moritz Loock, 2020. "The Double-Edged Sword of Ethical Nudges: Does Inducing Hypocrisy Help or Hinder the Adoption of Pro-environmental Behaviors?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 351-373, January.
    15. Falk, Armin & Boneva, Teodora & Chopra, Felix, 2021. "Fighting Climate Change: the Role of Norms, Preferences, and Moral Values," CEPR Discussion Papers 16343, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Zha, Donglan & Zhang, Chaoqun & Jiang, Pansong & Wang, Fu, 2024. "What makes energy consumption behavior visible? Conceptualization, scale development and validation of customized information feedback," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    17. Shrestha, Sujata & Shrestha, Uttam Babu & Shrestha, Bibek Raj & Maharjan, Shirish & Udas, Erica & Aryal, Kamal, 2024. "Determinants of adoption of climate resilient agricultural solutions," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    18. Phu Nguyen-Van & Anne Stenger & Tuyen Tiet, 2021. "Social incentive factors in interventions promoting sustainable behaviors: A meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-27, December.
    19. Cosimo Talò, 2024. "Modelling and Measuring Local Community Engagement (LCE)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 173(2), pages 475-498, June.
    20. Zaharah Mohamed Rani & Anida Ismail & Noraini Rahim & Siti Rohimi Mohamed Apandi & Ferial Farook, 2024. "The Impact of Environmental Knowledge on Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability Practices among Hospitality Students in Malaysia," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 16(3), pages 51-58.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:13:p:7851-:d:848385. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.