The role of green behavior in Youth’s willingness to call for circular economy participation: Exploring key influence factors

Abstract

Unprecedented economic developments all over the world have resulted in detrimental effects on the environment and raised the urgent need to transition into type of economy model related to sustainability in recent decades. Hence, the concept of circular economy emerged as a promising strategy heading toward resource optimization, waste elimination, and materials regeneration. This concept is deemed to be tremendously beneficial for three different dimensions such as economy, society, and environment. Previously, numerous studies only concentrated on the perspectives of businesses or organizations instead of scrutinizing the role of public intentions and behaviors in adopting sustainable practices. To implement comprehensively the circular economy it is necessary to involve the participation of the whole public, particularly the young generations, as it can be effectively achieved via collective practices. This study utilized the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to assess the determinants affecting the Youth's green intentions and behaviors. The research team also combines The Theory of Willingness to participate to explore the correlation between the Youth’s green behaviors and their willingness to encourage others to engage in the circular economy concept. It includes collecting data through an online survey with a sample size of 346 and employing PLS-SEM to analyze and disclose the underlying correlation. The results demonstrate that all factors examined: environmental attitude, green self-identity, and social influence positively affect the youth's green intention. Besides, it also indicates the positive correlation between the youth’s green behaviors and the willingness to call for participation in the circular economy concept. To tackle the problems of widespread circular economy adoption, our study suggests some solutions for the government and policymakers.