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The effect of environmental cognition on farmers' use behavior of organic fertilizer

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  • Haiqing Wang

    (Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics)

  • Long Zhang

    (Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics)

Abstract

Organic fertilizers are essential for fostering the green development of agriculture and protecting ecological environment. In this study, environmental cognition is innovatively introduced into the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to test the effect of environmental cognition on farmers’ organic fertilizer use behavior. The structural equation model (SEM) is adopted to research the organic fertilizer use behavior of 260 farmers in Luobei County, Hegang City, China, in this study. Specifically, we find that farmers’ perceived behavioral control (PBC) has a significant effect on their intentions to use organic fertilizer, while attitude (ATT) and subjective norm (SN) have no significant positive effect. It is further confirmed that farmers’ perceived behavioral control and behavioral intention (INT) have a significant positive effect on their organic fertilizer use behavior. Furthermore, the study also confirms that environmental cognition (EC) has a significant positive impact on farmers’ attitude and subjective norm toward organic fertilizer use behavior and that environmental cognition may indirectly influence organic fertilizer use behavior through farmers’ subjective norm and intention paths, suggesting that this extended theoretical framework of planned behavior is applicable to the study of farmers’ organic fertilizer use behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Haiqing Wang & Long Zhang, 2025. "The effect of environmental cognition on farmers' use behavior of organic fertilizer," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 9165-9185, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:27:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s10668-023-04275-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-04275-w
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