Residential low-carbon consumption behavior: insight from social cognition theory

Purpose The international community is currently focused on reducing carbon emissions and coping with climate change. Encouraging residents to adopt a wider range of low-carbon consumption behaviors will help achieve carbon reduction targets and alleviate global climate change. Design/methodology/approach Working from social cognitive theory, this paper uses questionnaire data from 657 Chinese residents, collected from March 29 to May 29, 2024, to establish a structural equation model to study the influencing factors and driving mechanisms of residents’ low-carbon consumption behaviors. Findings This study finds that (1) of the individual factors, low-carbon cognition and self-efficacy positively impact low-carbon consumption behavior. (2) Of the environmental factors, group pressure and media publicity positively impact low-carbon consumption behavior. (3) Of the environmental factors, group pressure, media publicity and policies and regulations all positively impact low-carbon consumption behavior through the mediation of low-carbon cognition. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the growing body of literature on low-carbon consumption behavior, demonstrating the application of social cognitive theory in exploring the drivers of behavior. Practical implications Strategies for the government to promote residents’ low-carbon consumption behavior are proposed, which will help the government achieve its carbon reduction goals. Originality/value This paper uses social cognitive theory to explore the driving factors of residents’ low-carbon consumption behavior. Prior studies have only considered psychological factors; this study includes environmental factors, given their known influence on individual behavior and the interactions among environment, individual and behavior, to clarify the paths of their mutual influence.