The main issues surrounding the value action gap are described below:
Factors that affect behavior The key issue is why people's attitudes often fail to materialize into actions. Moreover, people's values are not fixed and are negotiated, and sometimes contradictory. Thus, cognitive factors alone will not adequately explain environmental action. Blake (1999) argues that the relationship between attitudes and behaviors is moderated by the structure of personal attitudes themselves; and external or situational constraints. He argues that if attitudes are based on direct experience then they are more likely to be predictors of behavior and behaviors often result from social norms. Behaviors can also be restricted by external or situational constraints which refer to restrictions outside the individual's control, such as economic or political factors. Therefore, if buying environmental products does not maximize an individual's utility then they will not purchase them, regardless of their attitudes towards these issues. Making decisions requires a comparison of the costs and benefits of alternative actions within a specific budget, rather than about certain values. Young
et al. (2010) argue that the gap can be due to “brand strength; culture, finance; habit; lack of information; lifestyles; personalities; or, trading off between different ethical factors” (p 22). Moreover, time or convenience can often be the major determinant of consumer behavior, and therefore the value-action gap is understandable for environmental products, as other constraints are more dominant. This means other factors, such as price or quality, are still more important. Moreover, Chatzidakis
et al. (2007) argue that consumers use
neutralization techniques to justify pursuing their more selfish goals instead of purchasing environmental friendly products. Environmental values are usually less dominant in the decision-making process. Thus, the main motivation for actions is self-interest rather than altruistic. Therefore, this may account for the low market share of sustainable products.
Information deficit The most effective means to overcome the 'value-action gap' is to translate environmental concern into pro-environmental behavior. This may be achieved through increasing information. Therefore, one key explanation for the discrepancy between attitudes and buying behavior is the lack of information on specific issues. She argues that understanding issues creates awareness and it is this understanding that is the cause of behavior. Hence, it is often considered that one of the most effective ways to encourage pro-environmental behavior is to highlight important facts relevant to the issues. This is referred to as the ‘information deficit model’ of behavior change, which is based on the assumption that providing knowledge about the consequences of certain actions, would lead to a change in behavior. Environmental education and new knowledge is one way in which these environmental messages can be delivered, and therefore filling the value-action gap with information could help towards a change public behaviors. Furthermore, Owens (2000: 1142) argues that “if people had more information about environmental risks, they would become more virtuous”. Traditional thinking supported this idea that increased knowledge tended to encourage favorable attitudes which, in turn, lead to pro-environmental action. This relates to broader issues relative to methods of
environmental governance. Attempts by government to affect public behavior have traditionally been based on increasing environmental awareness. Many
environmental policies are based on this ‘information deficit model’ as policy-makers assume knowledge on certain issues will lead people to act in order to meet policy objectives. Barr and Gilg (2002) argue that just increasing information will not lead to a behavior change that would close this gap, and information-intensive campaigns are likely to be unproductive. Due to the increased media attention surrounding environmental issues and organizations such as
Greenpeace having a high profile, it could be argued that there is already a lot of information on these issues, and it is considered that general awareness on environmental issues is high. Sammer and Wüstenhagen (2006) point out that while people may be aware of environmental issues, this does not necessarily mean that they play a major role in their actions. These findings suggest that the 'value-action gap' cannot be overcome simply by using an 'information deficit' model of individual participation. Increasing information does not itself guarantee action at the individual level and information campaigns intended to raise awareness are not as effective as some may suppose. This raises issues regarding the effectiveness of methods used by NGOs, whose activities generally involve awareness campaigns and the use of non-state market driven (
NSMD) forms of governance which rely on consumers to create change. If attitudes are not translated into behavior then these methods are essentially flawed. This would suggest that other methods are more appropriate to encourage environmental action, such as regulation and economic incentives (taxes and grants).
Barriers to behavior It is widely considered that many other barriers exist, besides a lack of information, which inhibit ethical behavior causing a value-action gap to exist. Retallack
et al. (2007) identifies other barriers such as uncertainty, skepticism about the issue and distrust of national governments and organizations. Jackson (2005) uses the concept of ‘
bounded rationality’ to explain how individuals’ decision making processes are ‘bounded’ by psychological and environmental constraints. Blake (1999) points out that various models of behavior are flawed in that they fail to take into consideration the social, individual and institutional constraints. Various conditions and personal day-to-day responsibilities constrain actions that can be regarded as ethical. Blake identifies that this gap is not empty, but is filled with barriers that block the progress from environmental concern to environmental action. In his model, action is blocked by many factors intruding into the process, rather than just a lack of information. Thus, the cause of the value-action gap can be explained in terms of personal, social and structural barriers to action. Blake identifies three categories of obstacles that exist between the environmental concern and action: individuality; responsibility and practicality. However, which factors are important will vary for different individuals and environmental actions. Moreover, barriers often overlap and are combined which limits behavioral change. • Individual barriers refer to environmental concerns being outweighed by other conflicting attitudes. People may perceive themselves as the wrong type of person to carry out ethical actions or have a lack of interest in environmental issues, e.g. a divorce of position. • Responsibility barriers refers to the idea that people may not act, despite supporting environmental action, because they believe it is not their responsibility to help solve environmental problems. This is supported by Jackson (2005) who identifies that the acceptance of personal responsibility for one's actions, and their consequences, is the basis for the intention to perform a pro-environmental behavior. People may also not act because they possess a lack of trust for national governments and organizations which aim to tackle environmental issues., e.g. cynicism. • Finally, practical constraints prevent people from adopting pro-environmental action, regardless of their attitudes or intentions. These include lack of time, money, physical storage space (in the case of recycling), encouragement and pro-environmental facilities such as recycling and adequate public transport provision. Some people may also be physically unable to carry out some environmental actions, e.g. space limitations. Therefore, Blake argues that policies need to tackle these barriers, not just provide more information or recycling facilities. == See also ==