The determinants of different types of private-sphere pro-environmental behaviour: an integrating framework

With the development of industrial civilisation, urban environmental problems are increasingly severe. However, Chinese urban residents' actual adoption level of pro-environment behaviours (PEBs) is still relatively low. In order to improve the residents' PEBs adoption, this paper combined the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the Norm Activation Model and the Attitude-Behaviour-Context theory into a holistic framework to explore the determinants of private-sphere PEBs. In this model, we assess the determinants of private-sphere PEBs from perspectives of intrapersonal and contextual factors and treat private-sphere PEBs as three different types of behaviours, namely environmental purchasing behaviours, environmental transport behaviours and conservation behaviours, rather than aggregated and undifferentiated construct or a single item behaviour. The model was tested empirically by primary data collected from 1,054 citizens in Beijing and Shanghai in China. The results indicate that intrapersonal factors, such as pro-environmental intentions and personal norms, are significant positive factors of private-sphere PEBs adoption; contextual constraints have negative direct effects on the three types of private-sphere PEBs adoption; contextual constraints act as a moderator between pro-environmental intentions and private-sphere PEBs, while the moderating effects are sensitive to the types of private-sphere PEBs. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of residents' adoption of private-sphere PEBs and making more targeted policies accordingly.