Environmental knowledge influencing pro-environmental behavior among university students: a serial mediation and MGA approach

Purpose The study aims to investigate the mediating role played by environmental attitude and environmental sensitivity in the influence of environmental knowledge on pro-environmental behavior. Specifically, the study examined whether both environmental attitude and environmental sensitivity act as serial mediators between environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behavior. This study also explored whether there are gender differences in how environmental knowledge affects pro-environmental behavior through environmental attitude and environmental sensitivity. Design/methodology/approach A survey tool was distributed to university students in the northern region of India who had studied environmental studies as a compulsory subject during one of their semesters in their higher education program. A total of 558 responses were analyzed through nonparametric partial least squares multigroup analysis using PLS-SEM. Findings The results indicated that environmental knowledge significantly affected pro-environmental behavior. Moreover, environmental attitude and environmental sensitivity played significant mediating roles between environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behavior. Additionally, the results showed that the serial mediation effect of environmental attitude and environmental sensitivity in the relationship between environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behavior was significant. However, the findings did not show any significant gender difference in how environmental knowledge influences pro-environmental behavior, mediated serially by environmental attitude and environmental sensitivity. Originality/value Although vast literature is available on the relationship between environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behavior, a few studies have shown environmental attitude and environmental sensitivity as mediators. In addition, this study fills the gap in the existing research by exploring how environmental attitude and sensitivity serially mediate the nexus between environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behavior, particularly across genders.