Exploring the Influence Mechanism of Farmers’ Organic Fertilizer Application Behaviors Based on the Normative Activation Theory
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- RQ1: What is the influencing mechanism of the awareness of consequences and ascription of responsibility on farmers’ OFABs?
- RQ2: Can social norms moderate the relationship between personal norms and farmers’ OFABs?
2. Theoretical Analysis
2.1. Direct Effect of AC and AR on Farmers’ OFABs
2.2. Analysis of the Mediating Effect of PNs
2.2.1. The Effect of the AC and AR on Farmers’ PNs
2.2.2. The Influence of PNs on Farmers’ OFABs
2.2.3. Analysis of the Mediating Effect of PNs
2.3. Analysis of the Moderating Effect of Social Norms
3. Data Sources, Variable Settings, and Model Selection
3.1. Data Sources
3.2. Variable Settings
3.3. Analytical Method
4. Empirical Analysis
4.1. Reliability and Validity Test
4.1.1. Reliability Test
4.1.2. Validity Test
4.2. Model Fitness and Hypothesis Testing
4.2.1. Model Fitness Test
4.2.2. Structural Equation Model Estimation Results
4.3. Grouped Structural Equation Test
4.4. Moderating Effect Test
5. Discussion
5.1. Theoretical Implications
5.2. Practical Implications
5.3. Limitations and Future Research
6. Conclusions and Policy Implications
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
1 | The statistical data come from the 2020 Wuhan Statistical Yearbook, 2020 Huangshi City Statistical Yearbook, 2020 Jingmen City Statistical Yearbook, and 2020 Tianmen City Statistical Yearbook. Available online: https://data.cnki.net/NewHome/Index (accessed on 17 October 2021). |
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Variable | Measurement Item | Source of Measurement Scales | Mean Value | Standard Deviation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Farmers’ organic fertilizer application behaviors (OFABs) | Should farmers use their farm manure (OFABs1), such as plant straw, livestock, and poultry manure? Yes = 1, no = 0. | Ma et al. [59]; Wang et al. [20]; Lal et al. (2020) | 0.278 | 0.448 |
Should farmers use commercial organic fertilizer (OFABs2), such as earthworm organic fertilizer, and other biological fertilizers? Yes = 1, no = 0. | Ma et al. (2018) | 0.117 | 0.323 | |
Awareness of consequences (AC) | Not applying organic fertilizers will degrade the soil quality (AC1). Totally disagree = 1; disagree = 2; neither agree nor disagree = 3; agree = 4; totally agree = 5. | Onwezen et al. [32] | 3.376 | 0.729 |
Not applying organic fertilizers will cause agricultural environmental pollution (AC2). Totally disagree = 1; disagree = 2; neither agree nor disagree = 3; agree = 4; totally agree = 5. | Onwezen et al. [32] | 3.462 | 0.704 | |
Not applying organic fertilizers will restrict the sustainable development of agriculture (AC3). Totally disagree = 1; disagree = 2; neither agree nor disagree = 3; agree = 4; totally agree = 5. | Onwezen et al. [32] | 3.348 | 0.706 | |
Ascription of responsibility (AR) | Do you feel responsible for the deterioration of soil quality caused by not applying organic fertilizers (AR1)? Totally disagree = 1; disagree = 2; neither agree nor disagree = 3; agree = 4; totally agree = 5. | Onwezen et al. [32] | 3.002 | 0.839 |
Do you feel responsible for the agricultural environmental pollution caused by not applying organic fertilizers (AR2)? Totally disagree = 1; disagree = 2; neither agree nor disagree = 3; agree = 4; totally agree = 5. | Onwezen et al. [32] | 3.013 | 0.837 | |
Do you feel responsible for the restriction of not applying organic fertilizers to the sustainable development of agriculture (AR3)? Totally disagree = 1; disagree = 2; neither agree nor disagree = 3; relatively agree = 4; totally agree = 5. | Onwezen et al. [32] | 3.026 | 0.816 | |
Personal norms (PNs) | Do you think you should use organic fertilizer and other environmental behaviors (PN1)? Totally disagree = 1; disagree = 2; neither agree nor disagree = 3; agree = 4; totally agree = 5. | Onwezen et al. [32]; Tanner and Wölfing Kast [60] | 3.545 | 0.681 |
Do you think you are responsible for using organic fertilizers and other environmental behaviors (PN2)? Totally disagree = 1; disagree = 2; neither agree nor disagree = 3; relatively agree = 4; totally agree = 5. | Onwezen et al. [32]; Tanner and Wölfing Kast [60] | 3.414 | 0.711 | |
Do you feel guilty if you do not use organic fertilizers and other environmental behaviors (PN3)? Totally disagree = 1; disagree = 2; neither agree nor disagree = 3; agree = 4; totally agree = 5. | Onwezen et al. [32]; Tanner and Wölfing Kast [60] | 3.179 | 0.754 | |
Social norms (SNs) | Do you think relatives will use organic fertilizers and implement other environmental behaviors (SN1)? Totally disagree = 1; disagree = 2; neither agree nor disagree = 3; agree = 4; totally agree = 5. | Cialdini et al. [61] | 3.205 | 1.189 |
Do you think friends will use organic fertilizers and implement other environmental behaviors (SN2)? Totally disagree = 1; disagree = 2; neither agree nor disagree = 3; agree = 4; totally agree = 5. | Cialdini et al. [61] | 3.133 | 0.639 | |
Do you think neighbors will use organic fertilizers and implement other environmental behaviors (SN3)? Totally disagree = 1; disagree = 2; neither agree nor disagree = 3; agree = 4; totally agree = 5. | Cialdini et al. [61] | 3.046 | 0.749 |
Latent Variable | Indicator | Value of α | C.R. | Standardized Factor Loading | AVE | KMO | Bartlett Sphericity Test |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ascription of responsibility (AR) | AR1 | 0.987 | 0.991 | 0.988 | 0.975 | 0.755 | 0.000 |
AR2 | 0.990 | ||||||
AR3 | 0.972 | ||||||
Personal norms (PNs) | PN1 | 0.875 | 0.922 | 0.872 | 0.797 | 0.680 | 0.000 |
PN2 | 0.930 | ||||||
PN3 | 0.869 | ||||||
Organic fertilizer application behaviors (OFABs) | OFABs1 | 0.650 | 0.848 | 0.918 | 0.737 | 0.500 | 0.000 |
OFABs2 | 0.863 | ||||||
Awareness of consequences (AC) | AC1 | 0.671 | 0.813 | 0.720 | 0.591 | 0.577 | 0.000 |
AC2 | 0.776 | ||||||
AC3 | 0.701 |
Variable | AR | AC | PNs | OFABs |
---|---|---|---|---|
AR | 0.987 | |||
AC | 0.418 | 0.769 | ||
PNs | 0.634 | 0.487 | 0.893 | |
OFABs | 0.388 | 0.122 | 0.326 | 0.858 |
Statistical Test Index | Model | Judgment Standard |
---|---|---|
NFI | 0.815 | >0.8 |
Hypothetical Test | Path | Estimate | S.D. | p-Value | Conclusion |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1 | Awareness of consequences (AC) OFABs | −0.094 | 0.058 | 0.107 | Non-support |
H2 | Ascription of responsibility (AR) OFABs | 0.320 *** | 0.072 | 0.000 | Support |
H3 | Awareness of consequences (AC) Personal norms (PNs) | 0.269 *** | 0.054 | 0.000 | Support |
H4 | Ascription of responsibility (AR) Personal norms (PNs) | 0.522 *** | 0.051 | 0.000 | Support |
H5 | Personal norms (PNs) OFABs | 0.169 ** | 0.070 | 0.015 | Support |
Hypothetical Test | Path | Direct Effect | Indirect Effect | Total Effect |
---|---|---|---|---|
H1 | Awareness of consequences (AC) OFABs | −0.094 | 0.046 ** | 0.046 ** |
H2 | Ascription of responsibility (AR) OFABs | 0.320 *** | 0.088 ** | 0.408 ** |
H3 | Awareness of consequences (AC) Personal norms (PNs) | 0.269 *** | - | 0.269 *** |
H4 | Ascription of responsibility (AR) Personal norms (PNs) | 0.522 *** | - | 0.522 *** |
H5 | Personal norms (PNs) OFABs | 0.169 ** | - | 0.169 ** |
Path | Plain Households (n = 231) | Mountain Households (n = 160) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Path Coefficient | p-Value | Conclusion | Path Coefficient | p-Value | Conclusion | |
AC OFABs | −0.088 | 0.275 | Non-support | −0.142 | 0.184 | Non-support |
AR OFABs | 0.350 *** | 0.000 | Support | 0.294 * | 0.062 | Support |
AC PNs | 0.364 *** | 0.000 | Support | 0.182 * | 0.058 | Support |
AR PNs | 0.553 *** | 0.000 | Support | 0.586 *** | 0.000 | Support |
PNs OFABs | 0.189 ** | 0.035 | Support | 0.146 | 0.233 | Non-support |
Path | Integration households (n = 116) | Non-integration households (n = 275) | ||||
Path coefficient | p-value | Conclusion | Path coefficient | p-value | Conclusion | |
AC OFABs | −0.148 | 0.142 | Non-support | −0.072 | 0.338 | Non-support |
AR OFABs | 0.494 ** | 0.020 | Support | 0.222 ** | 0.022 | Support |
AC PNs | 0.315 *** | 0.000 | Support | 0.261 *** | 0.000 | Support |
AR PNs | 0.445 *** | 0.000 | Support | 0.592 *** | 0.000 | Support |
PNs OFABs | 0.053 | 0.613 | Non-support | 0.247 *** | 0.005 | Support |
Model 1 | Model 2 | Model 3 | |
---|---|---|---|
IN | 1.16 *** (0.18) | 0.79 *** (0.21) | 2.99 *** (0.91) |
SN | 0.71 ***( 0.25) | 3.29 *** (1.08) | |
IN × SN | −0.67 ** (0.27) | ||
Pseudo-R2 | 0.106 | 0.124 | 0.138 |
Chi2 | 50.15 | 58.92 | 65.38 |
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Xie, J.; Yang, G.; Guo, Z.; Wang, G. Exploring the Influence Mechanism of Farmers’ Organic Fertilizer Application Behaviors Based on the Normative Activation Theory. Land 2021, 10, 1111. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10111111
Xie J, Yang G, Guo Z, Wang G. Exploring the Influence Mechanism of Farmers’ Organic Fertilizer Application Behaviors Based on the Normative Activation Theory. Land. 2021; 10(11):1111. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10111111
Chicago/Turabian StyleXie, Jinhua, Gangqiao Yang, Zhaoxia Guo, and Ge Wang. 2021. "Exploring the Influence Mechanism of Farmers’ Organic Fertilizer Application Behaviors Based on the Normative Activation Theory" Land 10, no. 11: 1111. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10111111
APA StyleXie, J., Yang, G., Guo, Z., & Wang, G. (2021). Exploring the Influence Mechanism of Farmers’ Organic Fertilizer Application Behaviors Based on the Normative Activation Theory. Land, 10(11), 1111. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10111111