Zhang Shibin, Luo Yuzi, Zhang Pu
School of Management Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan, 250101, China.
Heliyon. 2024 May 1;10(9):e30591. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30591. eCollection 2024 May 15.
Extensive research has been conducted on the waste sorting behavior (WSB) of residents, while it is the first time that the classification behavior of urban and rural residents is compared under the same theoretical framework in China. Based on questionnaire data from 478 urban and rural residents, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to investigate the internal factors influencing the WSB by integrating the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Norm Activation Model (NAM). Hierarchical regression analysis was utilized to investigate the moderating effect of external factors on the residents' intentions and behavior. The results show that the degree of deviation between rural residents' intentions and behavior is much larger than that of urban residents. Personal norms are the key factors affecting urban residents' waste sorting. In contrast, for rural residents, attitude is the most critical factor, but the influence of subjective norms is insignificant. In addition, we found that policy restraints and economic incentives significantly moderate the association between urban residents' sorting intention and behavior, with economic incentives having a better effect than policy restraints. In contrast, the impact of policy restraints on rural residents is better than that of urban areas. However, the moderating effect of economic incentives is insignificant for rural residents. The findings furnish the government with meaningful strategies to narrow the urban-rural waste management gap.
针对居民的垃圾分类行为已经开展了广泛研究，而在中国首次在相同理论框架下对城乡居民的分类行为进行比较。基于478名城乡居民的问卷数据，运用结构方程模型（SEM），通过整合计划行为理论（TPB）和规范激活模型（NAM）来探究影响垃圾分类行为的内部因素。利用层次回归分析来研究外部因素对居民意愿和行为的调节作用。结果表明，农村居民意愿与行为之间的偏差程度远大于城市居民。个人规范是影响城市居民垃圾分类的关键因素。相比之下，对于农村居民来说，态度是最关键的因素，但主观规范的影响不显著。此外，我们发现政策约束和经济激励显著调节了城市居民分类意愿与行为之间的关联，经济激励的效果优于政策约束。相比之下，政策约束对农村居民的影响比城市地区更好。然而，经济激励对农村居民的调节作用不显著。这些研究结果为政府提供了缩小城乡垃圾管理差距的有意义策略。
