Pro-environmental behavior and the theory of planned behavior: a state of the art science mapping
Abstract
Purpose
This science mapping analysis aims to discern current, emerging and future trends of pro-environmental behavior and the theory of planned behavior (TPB).
Design/methodology/approach
Bibliometric analysis through bibliographic coupling and co-word analysis were used to reveal the progress of this phenomenon. Of the 1,120 documents search in Web of Science (WoS) database, 1,031 were used in this analysis after restricting to journal publications and studies after the year 2000.
Findings
The results show that four themes emerged, namely the fundamentals of TPB for pro-environmental behavior, antecedents of pro-environmental behavior, integration of TPB with the norm activation model and value belief theory and studies of pro-environmental behavior in developing countries. Environmental concern, environmental awareness, environmental knowledge and environmental education were the most commonly integrated variables.
Research limitations/implications
This research is unique in the sense that the integration between TPB and other prominent theories of pro-environmental behavior is vital to predict individual pro-environmental behavior and understand the fundamental scientific importance of the domain. The norm activation model has been integrated with TPB in many pro-environmental behaviors. Mainstream media stakeholders should design and implement a plan for strategic communication and awareness campaigns in the community to encourage consumers to engage in many behaviors that lead to environmental sustainability.
Originality/value
This study presents a science mapping approach to uncover crucial knowledge structure related to pro-environmental behavior and the theory of planned behavior.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by research fund from the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme FRGS/1/2022/SS01/UMP/02/2 (UMP SA Grant no. RDU220137) and Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al‐ Sultan Abdullah Fundamental Research Grant (RDU223401).
Citation
Zulkepeli, L., Fauzi, M.A., Mohd Suki, N., Ahmad, M.H., Wider, W. and Rahamaddulla, S.R. (2024), "Pro-environmental behavior and the theory of planned behavior: a state of the art science mapping", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-10-2023-0361
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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