It's what you do and where you do it: Perceived similarity in household water saving behaviours. (February 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kneebone, Sarah; Fielding, Kelly; Smith, Liam
• Is Part Of: Journal of environmental psychology. Volume 55(2018)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 10
• Publication Date: 2018-02
• Subjects: Behaviour similarity -- Householder perceptions -- Multiple sort procedure -- Categorisation -- Spillover; Environmental psychology -- Periodicals; Environment -- Periodicals; Psychology -- Periodicals; 155.905
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.10.007
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-4944

Abstract

Abstract: In the face of continued environmental degradation, policy makers need to accelerate public uptake of pro-environmental behaviours. Promoting behaviours which catalyse the adoption of other similar behaviours through the spillover effect has been proposed as a potential solution. This requires understanding which behaviours are seen as similar and what criteria are used to identify behavioural similarity. We used a sorting procedure with 32 householders in Melbourne, Australia, to investigate the perceived similarity of household water conservation behaviours and identify the underlying constructs used to distinguish between similar and dissimilar behaviours. Location was the primary attribute used to define behavioural similarity, specifically whether behaviours took place indoors or outdoors. Participants also distinguished between curtailment, efficiency and maintenance-type behaviours. Our findings provide empirical support for existing theoretical behaviour taxonomies. The results could inform design of future water-saving campaigns to promote catalytic behaviours, by leveraging off similar, existing behaviours for effective behaviour change results. Highlights: We apply a new approach to understand similarity and behaviour categorisation. We identify which of 44 household water saving behaviours are seen as similar. Patterns of similarity are illustrated with Multidimensional Scaling Analysis. Important characteristics for similarity include location and type of behaviour. We discuss implications for investigation of catalytic behaviours and spillover.