Understanding attitudes and intentions toward adopting certified seeds in Indonesian forest landscape restoration: A theory of trying application

Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) requires access to land and seed. Previous studies have shown that technical, social, and economic factors have influenced the success of FLR. However, psychological (behavioral) factors have received little attention. This study applies Bagozzi and Warshaw's Trying Theory/Theory of Trying (TT) to investigate secondary stakeholders' (activity implementers) intention to adopt certified seeds in Indonesia's FLR efforts. A cross-sectional study using structured questionnaire was distributed in six critical watersheds across Java and West Nusa Tenggara provinces, with a total sample of 330. A non-probability (purposive) sampling method was used. The data were then analyzed using Covariance-Based Structural Equation Model (CB-SEM) with SPSS and AMOS software. The findings showed that TT has successfully explained attitude and intention to adopt certified seeds to secondary stakeholders. Attitude toward success, attitude toward failure, and attitude toward process influence attitude toward adopting certified seeds. Furthermore, attitude toward adopting certified seeds, subjective norm, and frequency of past trying influence the intention to adopt certified seeds. The most powerful predictor of attitude toward adopting certified seeds (β = 0.887) was attitude toward process. Furthermore, intention to adopt certified seeds was most strongly predicted by subjective norms (β = 0.515). By following theoretical presumptions, these results advance our understanding of FLR in Indonesia. Given that the types of plants in FLR are determined based on community aspirations and land suitability, the government should increase the number of certified plant species, especially endemic species.