Rudman Alexie N, Mulvaney Kate K, Merrill Nathaniel H, Canfield Katherine N
Office of Research and Development, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Narragansett, RI, United States.
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge, TN, United States.
Front Mar Sci. 2023 May 23;10:1-18. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2023.1069599.
When environmental mitigation requires individual adoption, engagement approaches centered on cost effectiveness and technological efficiency alone are often insufficient. Through focus groups with adopters and prospective adopters, this research identifies factors influencing homeowners' willingness to adopt Innovative/Alternative (I/A) septic systems for nitrogen reduction. We apply concepts from technology adoption and behavior change models as a framework for illustrating the homeowner decision-making process around I/A adoption. The perceived needs to replace an old/failing septic system, comply with local regulations, and protect local water quality synergistically catalyzed adoption. Adoption was further influenced by the larger context within which it is taking place, perceived characteristics of I/A systems and the installation process, system aesthetics concerns, and homeowners' attitudes and beliefs. Considering how these factors affect adoption could enable resource managers to design more targeted interventions to encourage adoption through behavior change strategies such as social marketing, and to improve how these systems are communicated. If I/A systems are to be used as a tool to achieve water quality goals, the considerations influencing homeowners' willingness to install these systems will be critical to incentivizing voluntary adoption. Many of these factors are relevant to the adoption of other individual-level environmental management strategies, which are being increasingly deployed in response to complex, nonpoint source pollution issues.
当环境缓解措施需要个人采用时，仅以成本效益和技术效率为中心的参与方式往往是不够的。通过与采用者和潜在采用者进行焦点小组讨论，本研究确定了影响房主采用创新/替代（I/A）化粪池系统以减少氮排放意愿的因素。我们应用技术采用和行为改变模型中的概念作为框架，来说明房主围绕采用I/A系统的决策过程。更换旧的/有故障的化粪池系统、遵守当地法规以及保护当地水质的感知需求协同促进了采用。采用还受到其发生的更大背景、I/A系统和安装过程的感知特征、系统美学问题以及房主的态度和信念的影响。考虑这些因素如何影响采用情况，可使资源管理者通过社会营销等行为改变策略，设计更有针对性的干预措施来鼓励采用，并改善这些系统的宣传方式。如果I/A系统要用作实现水质目标的工具，那么影响房主安装这些系统意愿的因素对于激励自愿采用至关重要。其中许多因素与其他个人层面的环境管理策略的采用相关，这些策略正越来越多地被用于应对复杂的非点源污染问题。
