Sustainable water consumption: The perspective of Hispanic consumers

Accepted Manuscript Sustainable water consumption: The perspective of Hispanic consumers Jiyun Kang, Ph.D., Kaitlin Grable, M.S., Gwendolyn Hustvedt, Ph.D., Mira Ahn, Ph.D. PII:

S0272-4944(17)30021-X

DOI:

10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.02.005

Reference:

YJEVP 1096

To appear in:

Journal of Environmental Psychology

Received Date: 24 May 2016 Revised Date:

3 February 2017

Accepted Date: 26 February 2017

Please cite this article as: Kang, J., Grable, K., Hustvedt, G., Ahn, M., Sustainable water consumption: The perspective of Hispanic consumers, Journal of Environmental Psychology (2017), doi: 10.1016/ j.jenvp.2017.02.005. This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

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Sustainable water consumption: The perspective of Hispanic consumers Authors (Listed by Authorship)

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Kaitlin Grable, M.S. Water Quality Marketing and Outreach Coordinator Galveston Bay Foundation Email: [email protected]

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Jiyun Kang, Ph.D. Associate Professor & Graduate Program Coordinator School of Family and Consumer Sciences Texas State University 601 University Drive San Marcos, TX 78666 Email: [email protected]

Gwendolyn Hustvedt, Ph.D. Associate Professor & Assistant Director for Graduate Studies and Research School of Family and Consumer Sciences Texas State University 601 University Drive San Marcos, TX 78666 Email: [email protected]

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Mira Ahn, Ph.D. Associate Professor School of Family and Consumer Sciences 601 University Drive Texas State University San Marcos, TX 78666 Email: [email protected]

Corresponding Author

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Jiyun Kang, Ph.D. Associate Professor & Graduate Program Coordinator School of Family and Consumer Sciences Texas State University 601 University Drive San Marcos, TX 78666 Email: [email protected]

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Sustainable water consumption: The perspective of Hispanic consumers 1. Introduction

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As climate change increasingly affects rain and weather patterns, the importance of drought and water issues has captured consumers’ attention (Dascher, Kang, & Hustvedt, 2014). Consumers’ awareness has provided new opportunities for consumer advocates and policy

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makers to encourage consumption practices that reduce water usage. With the political climate in drought-prone regions progressively highlighting conservative water consumption, government

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agencies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actively run comprehensive water conservation programs. Most major cities in the U.S. incentivize the adoption of sustainable water options through rebates and giveaways and try to foster water conservation through mandatory restrictions (e.g., watering schedules, residential car washing bans),

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education programs (e.g., WaterWise seminars, conservation brochures), and services (e.g., free irrigation checkups, minor plumbing fixes).

The opportunity to reduce the impact of consumer behavior on water supplies is

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important not only in the consumer usage phase; there are also opportunities for consumers to make purchase decisions based on the amount of water required to produce products or what the

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product will require to operate post-purchase. For instance, the Water
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There has also been a significant growth of markets available for water-efficient household products including appliances, fixtures, and other household technologies. With the success of the Energy Star® appliance models, which are independently certified appliances that save

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energy without compromising features or functionality (Energy Star, 2015), companies are beginning to produce larger lines of WaterSense® products. WaterSense® is a partnership

program sponsored by the EPA that seeks to protect and ensure the future of American water

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supply by promoting and enhancing the market for water-efficient products (U.S. General Services Administration, 2015).

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Despite the current political climate and market situations promoting consumers’ choice of water-efficient options, there is a lack of empirical studies on consumers’ beliefs regarding drought and water as the underlying factors affecting their decisions on sustainable water consumption. For this study, we define sustainable water consumption in an expansive manner.

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It refers to a broad range of consumer behaviors related to water not only to habitual actions of water conservation, such as reducing the use of water while conducting household tasks, but also to proactive behaviors like making purchase decisions with a consideration of the amount of

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water required throughout the product lifecycle. Proactive methods of sustainable water consumption include choosing water-efficient products, supporting brands that take water-

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conscious initiatives in their production, and considering the use of water that might be required for the maintenance of products before making a purchase. A unique contribution of this study is that it conceptualizes sustainable water consumption as embracing proactive actions that consumers can embed in their purchase decisions beyond changing household habits to reduce their use of water.

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The purpose of this study is to understand the role of Hispanic consumers’ beliefs related to drought and water resources in shaping perceptions and behaviors related to sustainable water consumption. We focus on Hispanics because of their significance to the national economy as

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consumers. Hispanics, as an ethnic group, are the largest minority population in the U.S.,

constituting 17.1% of the population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014a; 2014b). From the 2000 census to the 2010 census, the Hispanic population in the country grew by 43% from 35.3 million to

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50.5 million people. Understanding the role of Hispanics as not only passive consumers but also proactive citizens in the U.S. becomes more significant in the future than it is today. In addition,

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many Hispanic consumers live in regions that are facing serious challenges from climate change, including droughts, recorded-high heats, and water shortages. Hispanics’ environmental attitudes may be different from that of non-Hispanic Americans (Schultz et al., 2000), however, results from previous studies that looked at environmental topics are not consistent when it comes to

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predicting behaviors for this ethnic group (Burger & Greenberg, 2006; Campbell, Johnson, & Larson, 2004). The previously stated reasons explain why Hispanics should be the focus of water consumption research, yet there are a lack of recent empirical studies that comprehensively

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examine sustainable water consumption focusing on this ethnic group as consumers. By addressing the gap that remains in the literature, this study contributes to building upon the body

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of knowledge on Hispanics with a study focused on the urgent issue of water consumption. 2. Literature Review

2.1. Theoretical framework for sustainable consumer behavior The body of literature examining sustainable consumer behavior has blossomed in the 30 years since early studies such as Seligman et al. (1979) explored the attitudes of people likely to 3

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engage in environmental behavior or Dunlap and Van Liere (1978) which laid out a measure of environmental attitudes. One strong line of research has focused on adapting the theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991) to explain the intention to engage in a whole variety of

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sustainable behavior. These studies have moved assertively away from the original model in an effort to better explain behaviors such as the purchase of energy efficient lightbulbs and

recycling (Harland, Staats, & Wilke, 1999; Nigbur, Lyons, & Uzzell, 2010; do Valle, Reis,

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Menezes, & Rebelo, 2004). Adaptations to the original model which contained three variables (attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control) include the addition of moral

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obligation (Chan & Bishop, 2013), self-identity (Sparks & Shepard, 1992), and utilitarian outcomes (Fransson & Garling, 1999). Other researchers, such as Stern et al. (2000) or Klöckner (2013) have focused on including variables, such as beliefs and values, which they characterize as antecedents to specific variables tied to behaviors. A large body of research dedicated to

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environmental behaviors agrees that nonspecific environmental constructs (such as altruism) do not directly predict specific environmental behaviors (such as recycling) but are mediated by more specific constructs that evaluate the behavior (attitude towards recycling) (Kaiser, Wölfing,

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& Fuhrer, 1999; Vining & Ebreo, 1992). For this reason, while the conceptual model of this study includes some variables that are in the TPB, the addition of variables such as utilitarian

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water belief, ecological water belief, perceived drought severity, water concern, and the inclusion of two measures of self-reported behavioral constructs, is intended to allow a view of the better and logical “flow” of variables that explain the core concept of interest—sustainable water consumption (see Figure 1).

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2.2. Utilitarian water belief and ecological water belief Motivations (Corral-Verdugo, 2002), skills (Corral-Verdugo, 2002), and normative or

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facilitating situations (Aitken, McMahon, Wearing, & Finlayson, 1994) have been found good predictors of water consumption, however, environmental beliefs have also been identified as an important potential predictor (Gray, 1985; Scott & Willits, 1994). Corral-Verdugo, Bechtel, and

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Fraijo-Sing (2003) split environmental beliefs, specifically those related to water and

conservation behavior, into utilitarian and ecological water beliefs. Utilitarian water belief

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causes the individual to view water purely as a resource that exists to be used by humans in an arbitrary way. On the other hand, those with ecological water belief view water as a limited resource that humans have a responsibility to conserve. In the only previous study that looked at Hispanics and water consumption, Corral-Verdugo et al. (2003) used a sample of 512 Mexican citizens living in the two largest cities in the state of Sonora,Mexico. They found that utilitarian

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water belief positively influenced water consumption rates (measured by the daily mean time in minutes spent on activities such as taking a shower, washing dishes, watering plants, and brushing teeth) and ecological water belief was negatively related to water consumption rates.

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The items measuring these two variables, utilitarian water belief and ecological water belief,

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were adapted as important constructs of interest in this current study. The expected influence of utilitarian water belief or ecological water belief on Hispanic

consumers’ perceptions, self-reported behavior, and behavioral intention toward sustainable water consumption is not uniform. It is expected that Hispanics’ utilitarian water belief negatively affects their favorable attitudinal stance and interest in water conservation (i.e., sustainable water consumption attitude), the feeling of pressure from other people to engage in water conservation (i.e., sustainable water consumption subjective norm), and their inner sense of 5

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responsibility that conserving water is a moral thing to do (i.e., sustainable water consumption moral obligation). It is also plausible that utilitarian water belief negatively affects the extent of water conservation behavior a consumer states he/she is currently engaging in at home as well as

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selecting products with water consciousness in mind (i.e., sustainable water consumption behavior) or behavioral intention to adopt water-saving or water-conservation household

products such as appliances or related fixtures in the near future (i.e., sustainable water appliance

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adoption intention). It should be noted that behaviors for this study refer to “self-reported”

behaviors. Meanwhile, the feeling that water is intended for human use (i.e., utilitarian water

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belief) should positively impact perceptions of control over decisions, such as how much water they use or what types of water appliances they install (i.e., sustainable water consumption perceived control). On the other hand, the belief that water is meant for the benefit of the entire environment, not just humans (i.e., ecological water belief), could negatively impact perceived

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control because individuals with ecological water belief might view the continued supply of water to be beyond the scope of human control. However, ecological water belief should positively affect sustainable water attitude, subjective norm, and moral obligation as well as

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sustainable water consumption behavior and sustainable water appliance adoption intention. 2.3. Perceived drought severity and water resource concern

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Given that drought has been a serious problem in many states of the U.S. (Andreadis,

Clark, Wood, Hamlet, & Lettenmaier, 2005; Grigg, 2014) and water scarcity is becoming a worldwide problem (March, Domenech, & Sauri, 2013; Rothfeder, 2004), it would be important to include concerns about drought conditions and water availability in a model of sustainable consumption. Dascher et al. (2014) included several measures related to water availability in their study including perceived severity of drought, concern about local water resource 6

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continuity, and confidence in an end to drought on water and energy consumption behavior. One of the measures, perceived drought severity, is defined as the extent to which individuals perceive the drought in their state as more severe than droughts of previous years, in other states,

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and in other countries. Dascher et al. (2014) found that perceived drought severity was not

significantly related to water and energy conscious consumption, which implies that consumers’ perception of drought severity was not translated into water and energy conservation actions.

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This disconnect may stem from the combination of water and energy conservation behaviors into one construct. That is, even if perceived drought severity is significantly related to ‘water’

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conservation, it might not be necessarily related to ‘energy’ conservation. Perceived drought severity, adapted from Dasher et al. (2014), was included in our model to determine if the focus on water alone would allow the variable to predict Hispanics’ sustainable water consumption. Additionally, we included a construct, water resource concern, in our model by adapting

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variables used to measure concerns about environmental issues to fit the water context. Environmental concern has been tied to an anthropocentric environmental altruism (Fransson & Gärling, 1999). Water resource concern is defined as how concerned consumers are with the

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status of water resources and issues surrounding wasteful water consumption. Unlike the measure of concern for water resource continuity in Dascher et al. (2014), this belief focuses on

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the continued availability of water resources. Thus, water resource concern along with perceived drought severity would help determine if the inclusion of a more expansive measure of water concern improves its relationship with water consumption behaviors. Both constructs, perceived drought severity and water resource concern, are expected to positively affect sustainable water attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, and moral obligation as well as sustainable water consumption behavior and sustainable water appliance adoption intention. 7

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2.4. Mediating role of attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, and moral obligation In building a conceptual model to examine Hispanics’ water beliefs, perceptions and behaviors, the behavior-specific variables of sustainable water consumption--attitudes, subjective

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norm, perceived control, and moral obligation--were placed in a mediating position between beliefs and behavioral constructs. Previous studies have shown attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and moral obligations have varying levels of relationship to

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conservation behaviors thus yielding inconsistent results. Lam (1999) found that both attitudes and perceived behavioral control have a significant influence on Taiwainese consumers’ water

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conservation intentions. Subjective norms were significant predictors of the intention to conserve water but not the intention to retrofit water appliances in the household. Perceived moral obligation did not have a significant effect on the intention to conserve water or the intention to retrofit appliances. In a more recent study using the same model and type of sample (Lam, 2006),

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perceived behavioral control did not have a significant effect on the consumers’ intentions. In this study of 244 government employees, Lam used a distinction between behavior that is focused on curtailment of water consumption through changes in habits versus efficiency

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procedures that change water consumption without changing habits of water use. This distinction is built on one previously outlined by Stern and Gardner (1981a) that found curtailment

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behaviors related to energy use were not as effective in reducing consumption as increased efficiency. Stern and Gardner (1981b) do agree that not all behaviors relevant for a sustainable energy future fit neatly into these two categories and that the terminology they selected has some drawbacks. This is one reason that we have described some of the self-reported behaviors in this study as simply habitual rather than using word like curtailment or conservation, in order to be

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clear that not all of these behaviors (e.g. the purchase of an equally enjoyable product that requires less water in their care) involve sacrifice, merely an intervention in habits. Lynne, Casey, Hodges, and Rahmani’s (1995) study of Florida farmers found that

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perceived behavioral control had the most significant effect on farmers’ intentions to adopt

water-conserving technologies, although attitudes and subjective norms were also important explanatory variables behind the farmers’ intentions and actions. Thus, the model for this study

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intends to include all four variables as mediators, not selectively choosing one or the other.

While previous studies show that beliefs such as environmental concern can have an

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impact on behavioral intention and behavior (Klöckner, 2013), the study on water consumption behavior that included beliefs (Wolters, 2014) did not look specifically at the mediation of variables such as attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, or moral obligation. Including the mediating relationship in this study would establish the role of beliefs about water in predicting

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water behavior and behavioral intention not only directly but also indirectly. 3. Conceptual Model and Hypotheses

This study aims to understand key beliefs that underlie perceptions and behaviors of

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Hispanic’s sustainable water consumption. Based on the literature review and theoretical

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foundation, we developed a comprehensive model that depicts the effects of water beliefs (utilitarian water belief, ecological water belief, perceived drought severity, and water resource concern) on attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, and moral obligation toward sustainable water consumption, which in turn affects sustainable water consumption behavior and sustainable water appliance adoption intention (see Figure 1). In producing a conceptual model that explores these relationships while being tidy to follow, the complex relationships of certain variables (such as water beliefs and perceived control) are not demonstrated to its full extent in 9

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the model. Meanwhile, the statements of hypotheses are formulated to more clearly show the specific direction of the relationship between variables, either positive or negative, as follows:

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H1. Water beliefs directly affect sustainable water consumption attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, and moral obligation.

H1a. Utilitarian water belief directly affects sustainable water consumption attitude (‒),

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subjective norm (‒), perceived control (+), and moral obligation (‒).

H1b. Ecological water belief directly affects sustainable water consumption attitude (+),

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subjective norm (+), perceived control (‒), and moral obligation (+).

H1c. Perceived drought severity directly affects sustainable water consumption attitude (+), subjective norm (+), perceived control (+), and moral obligation (+). H1d. Water resource concern directly affects sustainable water consumption attitude (+),

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subjective norm (+), perceived control (+), and moral obligation (+). H2. Water beliefs directly affect sustainable water consumption behavior. H2a. Utilitarian water belief directly and negatively affects sustainable water

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consumption behavior.

H2b. Ecological water belief directly and positively affects sustainable water

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consumption behavior.

H2c. Perceived drought severity directly and positively affects sustainable water consumption behavior. H2d. Water resource concern directly and positively affects sustainable water consumption behavior.

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H3. Water beliefs directly affect sustainable water appliance adoption intention. H3a. Utilitarian water belief directly and negatively affects sustainable water appliance adoption intention.

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H3b. Ecological water belief directly and positively affects sustainable water appliance adoption intention.

H3c. Perceived drought severity directly and positively affects sustainable water

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appliance adoption intention.

H3d. Water resource concern directly and positively affects sustainable water appliance

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adoption intention.

H4. Water beliefs indirectly affect sustainable water consumption behavior, mediated by sustainable water consumption attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, and moral obligation. H5. Water beliefs indirectly affect sustainable water appliance adoption intention, mediated by

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sustainable water consumption attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, and moral obligation.

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4. Methods 4.1. Data collection and sample

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Data were collected through an online survey that was offered to a random sample of Hispanics from Texas and California. The sample was sourced by Qualtrics, who directed respondents matching the desired demographics to the survey link from their large list of

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consumers until the targeted number of surveys was validated as complete by using validation and filtering questions. We chose a sample from these two states in the U.S. because they were

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both significantly affected by record droughts at the time of the survey and because they have sizeable Hispanic populations (Hispanics being the largest minority population in both states) that share a similar cultural makeup.

The total number of final, valid responses was 825, with 410 from Texas and 415 from California. About a third of the total respondents were males. In terms of age groups, 36% of the

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respondents were aged 18–24, 29% were aged 25–34, 14% were aged 35–44, 8% were aged 45– 54, and 13% were aged 55 and over. Respondents with a four-year college or graduate degree accounted for 36% of the sample. Respondents in the income bracket under $25,000 accounted

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for 29% of the sample, 33% were classified under the $25,000–$49,999 bracket, 28% had an

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income of $50,000–$99,999, and 9% were earning an income of $100,000 and over. 4.2. Instruments

All the measurements for the constructs of interest in this study were adapted from

existing scales. Utilitarian water belief and ecological water belief were measured with six items and two items, respectively, developed from the study of Corral-Verdugo et al. (2003). Perceived drought severity was measured with three items from the study of Dascher et al. (2014). Water resource concern was measured with two items adapted from Kang and Kim (2013). Sustainable 13

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water consumption attitude was measured with two items from Dascher et al. (2014). One of the items measuring sustainable water consumption attitude was “People should consider the amount of water that will be consumed to maintain the things they purchase.” Examples of commodities

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that need water to maintain are those that require water for care such as clothing and textiles (apparel, bedding, and upholstery products), landscaping-related products, and indoor plants. Sustainable water consumption subjective norm was measured with two items from Kaiser,

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Hübner, and Bogner (2005). Sustainable water consumption perceived control was measured with four items adapted from Lam (1999). Sustainable water consumption moral obligation was

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measured with two items adapted from Lam (1999). Sustainable water consumption behavior was measured with four items from Dascher et al. (2014). Finally, sustainable water appliance adoption intention was measured with two items adapted from Lam (1999). Detailed measurement items along with scales for each construct are reported in Table 1.

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4.3. Analysis

We performed path analysis to test the proposed model and hypothesized causal relationships within the model. Path analysis is considered an appropriate method for examining

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potential causal effects among constructs (Grimm & Yarnold, 1995; Park & Hoy, 2013). Given the large number of distinct parameters (93) to be estimated compared to the sample size, full

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structural equation modeling was not possible and rather multi-item scales for each construct were treated as a single measure, which was used for the subsequent path analysis (Yu & Pysarchik, 2002). Before conducting the path analysis with single-measure constructs, the reliability of each original measure was ensured: α ranged from .60 to .94. In addition, construct validity was adequately established based on confirmatory factor analysis. The model fit indices (CFI = .90; RMSEA = .06) suggested an acceptable fit; the t-value of each item was all 14

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significant at .01 level (cf. Fornell & Larcker, 1981). The completed properties of scale reliabilities and correlations between constructs are reported in Table 2. Table 1

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Instruments

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Construct (Scale) Utilitarian water belief (1=Strongly Disagree, 7=Strongly Agree) There is much water in my state. We just have to conduct it to our cities. Water is the cheapest natural resource. That is why the government should charge no cost. Science surely will solve the problem of water scarcity. Drinkable water is an unlimited resource. Water scarcity is a lie produced by politicians. Humans have a right to use all the water they want because they are the most highly evolved beings on the planet. Ecological water belief (1=Strongly Disagree, 7=Strongly Agree) Drinkable water will exhaust very soon if we do not save it. A way of preventing water exhaustion is using it only when absolutely necessary. Perceived drought severity (1=Much Better, 7=Much Worse) How is this drought compared to the previous drought(s) in your state? How are current drought conditions in your state compared to other states? How are current drought conditions in your state compared to around the world? Water resource concern How concerned are you with issues surrounding water resources in your state? (1=Very Unconcerned, 7=Very Concerned) I am concerned about wasteful water consumption in our environment. (1=Strongly Disagree, 7=Strongly Agree) Sustainable water consumption attitude (1=Strongly Disagree, 7=Strongly Agree) Employing water conservation practices at home is good for the environment. People should consider the amount of water that will be consumed to maintain the things they purchase. Sustainable water consumption subjective norm (1=Strongly Disagree, 7=Strongly Agree) I feel like others would be proud of me if I made an effort to conserve water. People who are important to me think I should conserve water. Sustainable water consumption perceived control At home, I can decide how much water I use. (1=Strongly Disagree, 7=Strongly Agree) I can decide on which kind of water use appliances or fixtures (clothes washer, dishwasher, toilet, faucets, etc.) to install in my house. (1=Strongly Disagree, 7=Strongly Agree) At home, using less water for myself is…(1=Very Hard, 7=Very Easy) To retrofit water-use appliances or fixtures in my house is…(1=Very Hard, 7=Very Easy) Sustainable water consumption moral obligation (1=Strongly Disagree, 7=Strongly Agree) I feel personal obligation to save water because water resources are limited. Water is a natural resource, everybody is obligated to treasure it. Sustainable water consumption behavior (1=Strongly Disagree, 7=Strongly Agree) Whenever possible, I take measures to conserve water. I purposefully select products that let me conserve water. I try to limit my use of water when performing household tasks. I purposefully purchase products that allow me to conserve water. Sustainable water appliance adoption intention (1=Very Unlikely, 7=Very Likely) If circumstances allowed you, how likely would you be to install some new water-saving appliances or fixtures? If circumstances allowed you, how likely would you be to upgrade your existing appliances to more water efficient options?

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Table 2

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Scale reliabilities, number of scale items, and correlations of observed variables UWB

EWB

PDS

WRC

AT

SN

PC

MO

CB

AI

.66

.71

.60

.73

.88

.94

2

2

4

2

4

2

.82

.69

.67

.65

6

2

3

2

Mean

3.19

5.17

4.38

5.44

5.77

4.78

5.23

5.60

5.36

5.40

Standard Deviation

1.25

1.29

1.28

1.19

1.02

1.31

1.04

1.12

1.14

1.52

.23**

Water resource concern Sustainable water consumption attitude

-.26** -.27**

.50** .46**

Sustainable water consumption subjective norm

.00

.34**

Sustainable water consumption perceived control

.12**

.09*

Sustainable water consumption moral obligation

-.24**

.54**

Sustainable water consumption behavior

-.12**

Sustainable water appliance adoption intention

-.08*

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-.20** -.28**

.37** .26**

.64**

.18**

.45**

.42**

-.03

.19**

.25**

.15**

.26**

.69**

.68**

.43**

.19**

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Utilitarian water belief Ecological water belief Perceived drought severity

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Cronbach Alpha Number of items

.41**

.21**

.61**

.67**

.53**

.32**

.60**

.29**

.10**

.39**

.38**

.31**

.30**

.36**

.48**

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Note. UWB: Utilitarian water belief; EWB: Ecological water belief; PDS: Perceived drought severity; WRC: Water resource concern; AT: Sustainable water consumption attitude; SN: Sustainable water consumption subjective norm; PC: Sustainable water consumption perceived control; MO: Sustainable water consumption moral obligation; CB: Sustainable water consumption behavior; AI: Sustainable water appliance adoption intention. *p < .05; **p < .01.

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5. Results 5.1. Direct effect testing

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Based on the conceptual model and hypotheses, the path model specified utilitarian water belief, ecological water belief, perceived drought severity, and water resource concern as

exogenous variables, while the other six constructs were specified as endogenous variables.

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Meanwhile, sustainable water consumption attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, and moral obligation were specified as mediators in the paths from four water belief constructs to

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each of the water behavioral constructs.

Model fit indices of the path model suggested that the model was well fitted to the data: χ2 (df = 1) = 39.98, p = .00, GFI = .99, CFI = .99, NFI = .99, RMR = .03. Given the good model fit, the specific relations among constructs were examined.

First, the direct effects of utilitarian water belief, ecological water belief, perceived

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drought severity, and water resource concern on sustainable water consumption attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, and moral obligation were examined (H1). Utilitarian water belief significantly and negatively affected attitude (γ = -.10, p < .01) while positively affecting

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subjective norm (γ = .15, p < .01) and perceived control (γ = .17, p < .01). Utilitarian water belief

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did not significantly affect moral obligation. Therefore, H1a was only partially supported. Ecological water belief positively affected attitude (γ = .17, p < .01), subjective norm (γ

= .17, p < .01), and moral obligation (γ = .25, p < .01). However, ecological water belief did not significantly affect perceived control. Therefore, H1b was partially supported. Perceived drought severity significantly but negatively affected perceived control (γ = .08, p < .05) and did not significantly affect attitude, subjective norm, or moral obligation. We

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hypothesized the effects of perceived drought severity to be positive, but only one path denoted a statistically significant negative relationship. Therefore, H1c was not supported. Water resource concern positively affected attitude (γ = .54, p < .01), subjective norm (γ

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= .39, p < .01), perceived control (γ = .25, p < .01), and moral obligation (γ = .56, p < .01). Therefore, H1d was fully supported.

Second, H2 denoting the direct effects of utilitarian water belief, ecological water belief,

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perceived drought severity, and water concern on sustainable water consumption behavior was examined. Water resource concern (γ = .17, p < .01) directly affected sustainable water

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consumption behavior, while utilitarian water belief, ecological water belief, and perceived drought severity did not show significant effects. Therefore, only H2d was supported. Third, H3 denoting the direct effects of utilitarian water belief, ecological water belief, perceived drought severity, and water resource concern on sustainable water appliance adoption

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intention was examined. Ecological water belief (γ = .07, p < .05) and water resource concern (γ = .18, p < .01) directly affected sustainable water appliance adoption intention, however, utilitarian water belief and perceived drought severity did not show significant effects. Therefore,

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H3b and H3d were supported.

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A summary of hypothesis testing results for H1 through H3 is shown in Table 3. All path estimates are illustrated in Figure 2.

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Table 3 A summary of hypothesis testing results

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Standardized Hypothesized Relationship Effect Size p H Testing Results H1a UWB → AT ‒ Accepted -.10 ** ‒ Rejecteda UWB → SN .15 ** Accepted + UWB → PC .17 ** ‒ Rejected UWB → MO -.05 .06 H1b EWB → AT + Accepted .17 ** + Accepted EWB → SN .17 ** ‒ Rejected EWB → PC .01 .72 + Accepted EWB → MO .25 ** H1c PDS → AT + Rejected -.01 .81 + Rejected PDS → SN -.02 .19 Rejectedb + PDS → PC -.08 .03 + Rejected .42 PDS → MO -.02 + H1d WRC → AT Accepted .54 ** + Accepted .39 WRC → SN ** + Accepted WRC → PC .25 ** + Accepted WRC → MO .56 ** H2a UWB → CB ‒ Rejected .03 .27 H2b EWB → CB + Rejected .02 .47 H2c PDS → CB Rejected + .01 .77 + H2d WRC → CB Accepted .17 ** H3a UWB → AI ‒ Rejected -.02 .65 H3b EWB → AI + Accepted .07 .05 H3c PDS → AI + Rejected -.04 .21 + H3d WRC →AI Accepted .18 ** Note1. UWB: Utilitarian water belief; EWB: Ecological water belief; PDS: Perceived drought severity; WRC: Water resource concern; AT: Sustainable water consumption attitude; SN: Sustainable water consumption subjective norm; PC: Sustainable water consumption perceived control; MO: Sustainable water consumption moral obligation; CB: Sustainable water consumption behavior; AI: Sustainable water appliance adoption intention. Note 2. aThe p-value was statistically significant, however, the relationship hypothesized (negative) was not supported. bThe p-value was statistically significant, however, the relationship hypothesized (positive) was not supported. **p < .01.

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5.2. Indirect effect testing To test H4 and H5, indirect effects were examined. The decomposition test was

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conducted using the bootstrapping method, and bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals were used to examine the significance of indirect effects. The test results confirmed that ecological water belief and water resource concern indirectly affected sustainable water

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consumption behavior. It should be noted that although ecological water belief did not “directly” affect sustainable water consumption behavior, the indirect effect testing demonstrated it affected

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sustainable water consumption behavior mediated by attitude, subjective norm, and moral obligation. The results also confirmed that utilitarian water belief, ecological water belief, and water resource concern indirectly affected sustainable water appliance adoption intention mediated by attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, and/or moral obligation. Taken

shown in Table 4. Table 4

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together, H4 and H5 were partially supported. The detailed results of the decomposition tests are

Path

Standardized Total Effects

Standardized Direct Effects

Standardized Indirect Effects

.05 .15 -.01 .55 .03 .12 -.06 .36

.03 .02 -.01 .17 -.02 .07 -.04 .18

.02 .13* -.01 .38* .04* .09* -.02 .30*

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UWB → CB EWB → CB PDS → CB WRC → CB UWB → AI EWB → AI PDS → AI WRC → AI

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Indirect effect testing for H4 and H5

Note. UWB: Utilitarian water belief; EWB: Ecological water belief; PDS: Perceived drought severity; WRC: Water resource concern; CB: Sustainable water consumption behavior; AI: Sustainable water appliance adoption intention. *p < .05 (bias-corrected percentile method).

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6. Discussion Research on the role of environmental beliefs and attitudes in consumer behaviors has

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long focused on energy (Douthitt, 1986; Haldeman, Peters, & Tripple, 1987; Jaffee, Houston, & Olshavsky, 1982). However, the growing impact of climate change on weather patterns, creating more frequent and intense droughts and storms, has brought water to the forefront of policy

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discussions (Gray, Hanak, Frank, Howitt, Lund, Szeptycki, & Thompson, 2015). Even studies that provide a more nuanced exploration of environmental attitudes in a variety of domains (e.g.,

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wildlife, population, health, and waste) only include water use and pollution in minor fashion (Royne, Levy, & Martinez, 2011; Segev, 2015). The current research is the first to comprehensively explore the beliefs, perceptions, and behaviors related to drought, water resources, and water consumption among Hispanics as the most important “majority minority”

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consumers in the U.S. 6.1. Theoretical contributions

The results suggest that dividing beliefs about water into two aspects, utilitarian and

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ecological, provides insight into the formation of perceptions and behaviors toward sustainable water consumption. It was found that Hispanics who more strongly believed that water is a

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discretionary resource for human use had more negative attitudes toward sustainable water consumption, felt more control over their ability to make water consumption-related decisions, and showed to have stronger subjective norm than those with a lower level of utilitarian water belief. On the other hand, the results indicate that Hispanic consumers who more strongly believed that water is a limited resource that humans are responsible for conserving showed more positive attitude toward sustainable water consumption and had stronger subjective norm as well 22

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as greater moral obligation to save water than those who have a lower level of ecological water belief. However, there is no statistical, significant support that these consumers felt that they had stronger control over the water consumption-related decisions in their households. The feeling of

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control is part of consumers with utilitarian water belief rather than ecological water belief

makes sense. For consumers to see water as a resource to be used by humans “as they see fit” (utilitarian water belief) is an ultimate expression of control. This feeling of control or

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intentionality suggests that efforts to shape consumers’ water conservation behavior may need to adopt a message such as “We know you can use as much water as you like, but during this crisis,

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you can choose to conserve.” Consumers who feel less control (e.g., those living in older homes with leaky pipes or having limited resources) could be encouraged to find ways to feel control through messages such as “The Department of Water is here to help you get a handle on water conservation in your home.” This study demonstrates that including both utilitarian and

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ecological water beliefs in the model examining water consumption behavior and appliance adoption intention is helpful in understanding the antecedents of sustainable water consumption. It also presents utilitarian and ecological water belief did not show significant sizes of direct

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effects on sustainable water consumption behavior. However, it was revealed that these beliefs showed significant indirect effects on behavior (ecological water belief) and adoption intention

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(utilitarian water belief) through domain specific variables such as attitude, subjective norm, perceived control and/or moral obligation toward sustainable water consumption. It should be noted, however, that as currently constructed in this study, these two variables are not strongly and negatively correlated, which may indicate a need to improve the distinction between the measures or may indicate a skew in their distribution in this particular study.

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Another set of findings that deserve discussion are those related to the two other elements of water beliefs: perceived drought severity and water resource concern. Perceived drought severity did not prove to be a significant path to water behavior or appliance adoption intention,

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which supports the findings of Dascher et al. (2014). It is possible that the use of a comparative measure, intended to provide a baseline for evaluating drought severity, is less explanatory than a straightforward measure asking “how bad is this drought?” However, this variable showed

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significantly negative effects on perceived control even though the effect size is marginal, which hints at the possible role of the belief in the relative severity of the drought in paralyzing

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consumers who see the drought situation as bad enough to be out of their realm of control. Future research including measures of beliefs about drought will need to explore the role of touting either the absolute or comparative drought severity in diminishing consumers’ feelings of control as well as the difference between these two ways of stating the severity of drought.

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In our model, water resource concern was found as a critical construct by showing direct and indirect effects on Hispanic consumers’ perceptions and behaviors related to sustainable water consumption. Since this study did not compare Hispanics and other ethnic groups, we

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cannot claim that this belief (water resource concern) is more dominant in Hispanics over non-

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Hispanics. However, the significance of this belief in Hispanics on perceptions and behaviors toward sustainable water consumption could reinforce the results of previous research focusing on environmentally friendly values and their positive effects on pro-environmental behaviors of Hispanics (Burger & Greenberg, 2006; Noe & Snow, 1999; Schultz, Unipan, & Gamba, 2000). Water resource concern, this specific aspect of environmental concern that focuses on water resources and wasteful water consumption, presents a route to changing consumption behavior that differs from drought perception. These results support those of an Australian study (Kantola, 24

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Syme, & Nesdale, 1983) on the impact of negative messages about water conservation. The study found that messages with high severity (e.g., photos of dead birds) are ineffective at promoting consumers’ intentions to conserve water. It cast doubt on the ability of attitude and

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subjective norm by themselves to predict intentions to conserve water, something that this current study confirms.

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Although the main interest of this study is not to examine the direct effects of the

classical constructs of TPB—namely attitude, subjective norm, and perceived control—on

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behavioral intention, this study does contribute to the body of knowledge in this area by confirming that these constructs are valid mediators linking beliefs to behavior and behavioral intention specifically in sustainable water consumption among Hispanic consumers. This study was an effort to capture, in the midst of a growing drought crisis, the role of beliefs in shaping water conservation and consumption behavior. The study does support the work of Klöckner

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(2013), whose meta-analysis suggested that including beliefs along with the variables of the TPB can produce a greater understanding of environmental behavior. It also suggests a pathway by which the environmental concern found by Wolters (2014) to impact water conservation

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behaviors is producing this effect.

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6.2. Practical implications, limitations and future research Showing geographical information system (GIS) maps of the state with colored regions

indicating water or rain levels while ranting about the cataclysmic consequences of drought may be a way to highlight the severity of a drought, but it is not a path to changing water consumption immediately or over the long term. Asking policymakers and members of civil society to focus on the reduction of water resources and the impact of waste on the reduction of resources during 25

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a drought without needing to convince consumers of the historical or regional significance of the event provides a better path, one that is not dependent on specific drought conditions. Water resource concern is directly related to self-reported water behavior and has a greater direct

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impact on the behavior than either utilitarian or ecological beliefs about water. Water managers should consider using water resource concern when targeting Hispanic consumers since this

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belief will have more impact on motivating sustainable water consumption behaviors.

Because this study considers consumers’ purchase intentions of products that help

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consumers to conserve water, the results of this study can provide businesses committed to selling products that feature water sustainability with important implications. For example, industries that require water in both production and maintenance can utilize Hispanic’s fundamental beliefs and perceptions behind the issue of water conservation presented in this study, to create and market products for this group of consumers. Since ecological water beliefs

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are a significant predictor of sustainable water consumption behaviors, Hispanics who see the value of water extending beyond human use instead of viewing it as a utility to be used in an arbitrary way are more likely to engage in sustainable consumption of water. Thus, a company’s

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promotion campaigns and marketing activities emphasizing that consumers can maintain their

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ecological beliefs by choosing the company’s products would attract those consumers. Another significant predictor is water resource concern; for Hispanic consumers who are strongly concerned about wasteful water consumption, their decision making can reflect this concern. Therefore, companies selling a product that enables consumers to conserve water while being used must highlight the product’s ability for water conservation and thus it helps addressing their water concerns. This would appeal to such environmentally conscious Hispanic consumers.

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The limitations of this study are mostly related to the sample, which was drawn from Hispanics in Texas and California in the U.S. These states were chosen precisely because Hispanics are the largest minority population in both states as well as they have been

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experiencing and are expected to continue to experience water crises in the coming decades. Previous studies of households used samples in such states as Florida where 85% of Hispanics are of non-Mexican origin (e.g. Segev, 2015), while Hispanics in the two states in this current

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study are both close to 85% Mexican origin. Therefore, the generalizationability of the results from our study to the entire Hispanic consumer population in the U.S. is higher than that of

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aforementioned previous studies. However, future research can still expand beyond the two states selected in this study in order to verify whether the model works for Hispanics nationwide or compare with other regions that have different drought patterns.

While it should not be considered a limitation to developing research models that are

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relevant to large minority populations, future studies can also examine the model from multigroup comparison perspectives by incorporating non-Hispanics into the sample to see whether and how the model works for non-Hispanic consumers. Hispanics have shown environmental

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perceptions and attitudes that might differ from those of other ethnic groups (Dunlap, Gallup, &

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Gallup, 1993; Lynch, 1993; Schultz et al., 2000). Thus, such comparison with non-Hispanics will provide rich implications for policymakers and consumer interest groups in developing strategies that are more relevant to different consumer groups to promote sustainable water behaviors. Future research that includes cultural orientation-related constructs to the model is

recommended. In our model, Hispanic consumers’ water resource concern was revealed as a critical construct by showing direct and indirect effects on their perceptions and behaviors 27

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related to sustainable water consumption. Considering the research results that Hispanics’ environmentally friendly behaviors are associated with a cultural orientation, such as collectivism (Lynch, 1993; Segev, 2015), future research including Hispanic cultural orientation

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variables would contribute to building a rigor to further understand sustainable water consumption.

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Future studies to explore the possible differences in water beliefs, perceptions, and behaviors according to various socio-economic status, especially gender and age, is

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recommended. Although the sample of this study was randomly drawn, two third of the respondents were females and about 79% were under 45 years old. Focusing on the heterogeneity among Hispanic consumers will provide useful insights for the marketers and manufacturers whose products and services are targeted to age-specific or gender-specific

6.3. Conclusion

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consumer segments.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Hispanic consumers’ beliefs on

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water, drought, and relevant resources in shaping their perceptions, behavioral intentions, and behaviors specifically related to sustainable water consumption. This study is the first to test a

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comprehensive model of Hispanics’ sustainable water consumption rather than looking at water in the context of other environmental behaviors such as energy conservation or recycling. The study found that some water beliefs (perceived drought severity) were not significantly related to sustainable water consumption while others (utilitarian water belief, ecological water belief, and water resource concern) did show significant relationships either with attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, and moral obligation toward sustainable water consumption or with behaviors 28

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related to sustainable water consumption. Sustainable water consumption, as conceptualized in this study, is complex, and the study uniquely contributes to the body of knowledge by framing the behaviors being examined as both habitual and proactive water behaviors in order to embrace

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the impact of considering water consumption when purchasing products that might require water for maintenance. Overall, this study has critical implications for businesses, policymakers, and practitioners charged with managing water conservation efforts in regions affected by drought.

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While water consumers may respond to costly and blunt demand-side tools such as pricing

increases or ticketing for mandatory restriction violations, understanding that perceived drought

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Sustainable water consumption: The perspective of Hispanic consumers

Acknowledgements

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The authors would like to acknowledge the support of Texas State University for Research Enhancement Program funding for this study.

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• A comprehensive model of Hispanics’ sustainable water consumption is proposed. • Sustainable water consumption conceptualizes habitual conservation and proactive decisions. • Water beliefs directly and indirectly affect self-reported behavior and behavioral intention.