Abstract
The present study intends to show how collectivism as a cultural dimension influences pro-environmental behavior, as well as attitude toward renewable energies (biomass and solar). It is expected that the higher is the level of a society’s collectivism, the greater will be its concern for the environment. We conducted online personal surveys with a pre-coded questionnaire in three countries (Germany, Mexico and Spain) with high, low and medium levels of collectivism, respectively (Hofstede in Culture’s consequences: international differences in work-related values (1st/Abridged eds). Beverly Hills, 1980). The data were assessed through structural equation modeling using AMOS 18 software. The results show that the level of collectivism/individualism is a determinant of the formation of pro-environmental behavior and impacts on consumers’ attitudes toward the adoption of renewable energy systems. The analysis confirms that the country with the highest level of collectivism develops stronger eco-friendly behaviors and stronger intentions to adopt renewable energy technologies.
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The authors are grateful to the anonymous referees and to the editor in chief for the insightful comments and suggestions made during the reviewing process. These were all very constructive and helpful in improving the manuscript. They would also like to thank all the respondents who participated in this study.
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The present research was undertaken in accordance with the Good Research Practice Code and the Good Research Practice Recommendations of the Research Ethics Committee, University of Granada. We fully explained the objectives and methods of the study to the participants and electronically obtained their informed consent.
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Higueras-Castillo, E., Liébana-Cabanillas, F.J., Muñoz-Leiva, F. et al. The role of collectivism in modeling the adoption of renewable energies: a cross-cultural approach. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 16, 2143–2160 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-019-02235-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-019-02235-4