Place attachment and residential water conservation: Application of an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour in Australia's Northern Territory

Understanding the drivers of residential water conservation is crucial amid rising climate change, drought, and water shortage concerns. While the literature suggests that environmental psychology can help identify the factors influencing water-saving behaviour, the critical role of place attachment in water conservation decision-making remains underexplored. Previous research has primarily focused on identifying key determinants through statistical significance and correlations, yet there is still limited understanding of the extent to which these determinants are necessary conditions for achieving water conservation. Thus, this study draws on necessity and sufficiency logic to investigate place attachment as a critical antecedent to an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to predict residential water conservation intention and behaviour. By integrating partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and necessary condition analysis (NCA) to analyse 346 responses from residents in the Northern Territory of Australia (NT), this study identifies the sufficient and necessary conditions that need to exist for residential water conservation intentions and behaviours to occur. The PLS-SEM results show that place attachment does not significantly predict water conservation intentions or behaviours, rather it influences attitude, injunctive norm, descriptive norm, response efficacy, and self-efficacy. While attitude, injunctive norm, response efficacy, and self-efficacy were significant predictors of intention, descriptive norm was not. Further, intention and self-efficacy were also significant predictors of water conservation behaviour. The NCA results revealed that place attachment, attitude, self-efficacy, and response cost were necessary conditions for water conservation intention, while place attachment, self-efficacy, and intention were necessary conditions for achieving water conservation behaviours. Overall, the implications of this study for theory and practice are proposed to guide scholars, policymakers, and water authorities in enhancing residential water conservation. • Place attachment is insufficient but a necessary condition for water conservation intention and behaviour • Without place attachment, intention and behaviour to conserve water will not occur • Attitude, self-efficacy, and response efficacy provide sufficient and necessary conditions for intention • Only self-efficacy and intention provide sufficient and necessary conditions for behaviour • If any of the identified necessary condition variables are not in place, intention and behaviour will not occur