Proenvironmental attitudes predict proenvironmental consumer behaviors over time

Abstract

Proenvironmental attitudes and behaviors have been increasing over the past decade. In this study, we use longitudinal panel data from a nationally representative sample of the Swiss population (N = 9106) to replicate the finding that proenvironmental attitudes are linked with proenvironmental consumer behaviors, and present novel evidence that change in proenvironmental attitudes is associated with change in proenvironmental consumer behaviors. The links between proenvironmental attitudes and proenvironmental consumer behaviors were moderated by people's life stage but not by their perceived control. Together, these results provide important insights about the ways in which proenvironmental attitudes translate into proenvironmental consumer behaviors over time and across individuals with different demographic and psychological backgrounds.