Análisis de las barreras al comportamiento de conservación de aguaimplicaciones para el marketing social (analysing barriers to water conservation behaviour: implications for social marketing)

Resumen

Academic research on water issues has exponentially increased in recent decades due to the increase on the number of studies (e.g. UNESCO, 2015) that consider water shortage for human consumption as one of the most acute environmental problems faced by the humanity. Although both the agricultural and the industrial sectors are suffering major shortages, according to predictions of the IPCC (2008) demand for residential water should be a priority area of analysis given the increasing urbanization projects, changing patterns consumption, and rising living standards. Likewise, demand-side management has emerged as a crucial part of a total water cycle management approach, and as an important complement of more widely used supply-side approaches (e.g. improving systems for water distribution) for managing fresh water (Russell & fielding, 2010). Finally, within the demand-side analysis, water conservation behaviour is gaining ascendancy around the world as the most important strategy for water planning and management for future decades (Suarí, 2013). This is because only through identifying the key psychological and social drivers of water use and conservation can effective strategies (e.g. water policy, communication campaigns or social marketing programs) be developed to address urban water demand management (Russell & Fielding, 2010). Based on the above, this dissertation attempts to broaden the knowledge of water conservation by analysing several demographic and psychological determinants, scarcely studied in the literature, as barriers to engaging in this proenvironmental behaviour. In this sense, the two types of residential consumption are considered differentially: household and individual level of research. In addition, it is proposed that social marketing has an important role in this process since it aims to generate behavioural change, concentrating on removing barriers to change (Lee & Kotler, 2016). Understanding the different levers that marketers can use to influence behavioural change for natural resources conservation is a growing area of research in marketing and one that has not been analysed in depth (Lowe, Lynch, & Lowe, 2015). This general objective is developed, albeit to different degrees, throughout four empirical studies (three of them already published in academic journals and one currently under review). The first study examines whether households (500 households mostly from the Vega Baja del Segura, Spain), with different size and age of household head show differences in attitudes towards saving water. In addition, a scale is developed to measure the attitude towards saving water (consistent, valid, reliable and parsimonious). Furthermore, it is analyzed to what extent attitudes and the structural variables previously cited influence household water consumption. Results show that almost all the predictors of household water consumption are significant and attitude construct has two different factors. The second study analyses, at individual level, the influence of personal involvement in water conservation practices, credibility of water scarcity problems, perception of the efficacy of specific conducts and personal involvement on reported water conservation behaviour (RWCB). Similarly, the differences in this reported behaviour using age, gender and habitat are analyzed. Using a survey across Spain (n=637) and conducted in 20 cities that have experienced or no water scarcity, the results show that the contribution of each variable was statistically significant, except for the credibility given to the problems on water shortage in the future. Additionally, discriminant analysis allows grouping 99.4% of the sample into two possible clusters with different water conservation behaviours profiles. Credibility of facts and risks are not significant in the creation of these two groups. As involvement is highly significant and credibility of information is not, it is possible to conclude that informative aspects do not help to generate greater water conservation behaviour. The third study, also at the individual level, pursues the development of a new instrument to measure public perception of the risks underlying water for consumption using a psychometric approach. The main reason for developing it was to address the lack of specific risk perception measurement in environmental literature despite the growing importance of this concept. To reach this objective, two data gathering processes are implemented in two different situational contexts within the same country (Spain). The first one was conducted in 2012 in a strong rainfall period while the second one in 2014 in a drought period. This allows checking the invariance assumption of the proposed scale, and confirming that this scale is not sensitive to climate context (rainy vs. dry period). This scale, called UWPR, compared to other existing scales in the literature, is simpler and easier to use in questionnaires, invariant, reliable and valid. The fourth study, following the individual approach, analyses the relationship between the previously developed risk perception scale (UWPR) along with other previously analysed variables (credibility of the information on future water problems and personal involvement in water conservation practice) and reported water conservation behaviour. In addition, the moderating effect of water stress context (“scarce” vs. “non–scarce” regions) is analysed to uncover potential differences in the level of the variables, underlying relationships and the explanatory power of the proposed model. The results show that the proposed measurement model is reliable and valid for both situational contexts (water scarcity and non–scarcity) with very similar explanatory power, evidencing the high external validity of the model, which allows its use in different water stress environments. Most of the relationships are statistically significant except two antecedents of RWCB (message credibility and risk perception of water consumption) which are not significant. In this regard, the relationship between message credibility and RWCB is mediated by personal involvement. In general, these findings highlight that the natural resources management (e.g. communication campaigns) should focus on developing personal involvement with conservation behaviour rather than insist on the credibility of the claims about the current and future status of resources. Furthermore, these strategies must be adapted to the context of water stress where implemented. Finally, in the light of the findings in each of the empirical studies presented in this dissertation, it is offered a number of practical implications in the field of social marketing aimed at decision makers responsible for managing water demand strategies. In addition, from an academic point of view, future research lines to develop as a priority in the field of water conservation are proposed.