•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Unsustainable consumption is at the root of many current environmental issues, including global warming, waste pollution, and biodiversity loss. It is therefore important to identify the predictors of sustainable consumption, particularly among Generation Z, the largest age cohort in the current population of Indonesia. This research aimed to investigate the association between nature relatedness, environmental concern, and sustainable consumption behavior among Generation Z in Semarang City. A total of 140 participants were involved in this research through convenience sampling. Instruments that were used are the Sustainable Consumption Behaviour scale (19 items; α=0.841), the Nature Relatedness scale (24 items; α=0.904), and the Environmental Concern scale (24 items; α=0.878). The data was analyzed with the hierarchical multiple regression technique using SPSS version 29.0.1.1 software. The findings reveal that nature relatedness and environmental concern positively predict sustainable consumption behavior (β=.275, p

References

Adiwena, B. Y., & Djuwita, R. (2022). Manusia dan lingkungan alam: Analisis faktor konfirmatori terhadap Nature Relatedness Scale Bahasa Indonesia. Jurnal Psikologi Sosial, 20(1), 57–71. https://doi.org/10.7454/jps.2022.08

Afila, R. (2022). Monitoring kebijakan penggunaan plastik di Kota Semarang. [Undergraduate Thesis, Universitas Diponegoro]. Undip Repository. https://eprints2.undip.ac.id/id/eprint/13629

Agarwal, R., Gera, Y., Amar, A., & Thomas, M. R. (2020). Generation Z preference on reusable food container on subscription basis. Indian Journal of Commerce & Management Studies, XI(2), 53. https://doi.org/10.18843/ijcms/v11i2/05

Alabi, O. A., Ologbonjaye, K. I., Awosolu, O., Alalade, O. E. (2019). Public and environmental health effects of plastic wastes disposal: A review. Journal of Toxicology and Risk Assess, 5(021). https://doi.org/10.23937/2572-4061.1510021

Arora, N. K., Fatima, T., Mishra, I., Verma, M., Mishra, J., & Mishra, V. (2018). Environmental sustainability: Challenges and viable solutions. Environmental Sustainability, 1(4), 309–340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42398-018-00038-w

Balundė, A., Perlaviciute, G., & Truskauskaitė-Kunevičienė, I. (2020). Sustainability in youth: Environmental considerations in adolescence and their relationship to pro-environmental behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.582920

Barker, J. (2022). Generation Z members say they want sustainable clothes but buy fast fashion instead – new research. Sheffield Hallam University. https://www.shu.ac.uk/news/all-articles/latest-news/fast-fashion

Bassiouni, D. H., & Hackley, C. (2014). “Generation Z” children’s adaptation to digital consumer culture: A critical literature review. Journal of Customer Behaviour, 13(2), 113–133. https://doi.org/10.1362/147539214X14024779483591

Bothun, G. D. (2018). Earth systems thinking: Global consumerism, climate change, and the spiritual value of the earth. Environmental Management and Sustainable Development, 7(3), 35. https://doi.org/10.5296/emsd.v7i3.13179

Brand, B. M., Rausch, T. M., & Brandel, J. (2022). The importance of sustainability aspects when purchasing online: Comparing Generation X and Generation Z. Sustainability, 14(9), 5689. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095689

Confetto, M.G., Covucci, C., Addeo, F. and Normando, M. (2023). Sustainability advocacy antecedents: How social media content influences sustainable behaviours among Generation Z. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 40(6), 758-774. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-11-2021-5038

Courtney, D. A. (2020). Exploring generation z’s environmental concerns and its effects on their purchasing behaviors. [Master's Thesis, Texas State University]. University Scholarship. https://digital.library.txstate.edu/handle/10877/12102

De Canio, F., Martinelli, E., & Endrighi, E. (2021). Enhancing consumers’ pro-environmental purchase intentions: The moderating role of environmental concern. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 49(9), 1312–1329. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-08-2020-0301

Dean, J., Shanahan, D., Bush, R., Gaston, K., Lin, B., Barber, E., Franco, L., & Fuller, R. (2018). Is nature relatedness associated with better mental and physical health? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(7), 1371. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15071371

Demir, B., & Tatar, A. (2023). The relationship between future perception tendency and sustainable consumption behaviors. Moldavian Journal for Education and Social Psychology, 6(1), 15–34. https://doi.org/10.18662/mjesp/6.1/35

Dermody, J., Hanmer-Lloyd, S., Koenig-Lewis, N., & Zhao, A. L. (2015). Advancing sustainable consumption in the UK and China: The mediating effect of pro-environmental self-identity. Journal of Marketing Management, 31(13–14), 1472–1502. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2015.1061039

Dermody, J., Koenig-Lewis, N., Zhao, A. L., & Hanmer-Lloyd, S. (2018). Appraising the influence of pro-environmental self-identity on sustainable consumption buying and curtailment in emerging markets: Evidence from China and Poland. Journal of Business Research, 86, 333–343. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.09.041

Di Paolo, L., Abbate, S., Celani, E., Di Battista, D., & Candeloro, G. (2022). Carbon footprint of single-use plastic items and their substitution. Sustainability, 14(24), 16563. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416563

Diantari, N. Y. K. (2021). Fast fashion as a Generation Z lifestyle in Denpasar. SANDI : Seminar Nasional Desain, 1, 98–104. https://eproceeding.isi-dps.ac.id/index.php/sandi-dkv/article/view/95

Dornhoff, M., Sothmann, J.-N., Fiebelkorn, F., & Menzel, S. (2019). Nature relatedness and environmental concern of young people in Ecuador and Germany. Frontiers in Psychology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00453

Ewe, S. Y., & Tjiptono, F. (2023). Green behavior among Gen Z consumers in an emerging market: Eco-friendly versus non-eco-friendly products. Young Consumers, 24(2), 234–252. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-06-2022-1533

EY. (2018). Why Indonesia is a powerhouse in the making? https://www.ey.com/en_es/assurance/why-indonesia-is-a-powerhouse-in-the-making

Global Footprint Network. (2023). Past Earth overshoot days. https://www.overshootday.org/newsroom/past-earth-overshoot-days/

Government of Semarang Municipality. (2022). Aktivitas masyarakat kembali normal, produksi sampah di Kota Semarang kembali meningkat. https://semarangkota.go.id/p/3873/aktivitas_masyarakat_kembali_normal,_produksi_sampah_di_kota_semarang_kemba

Gupta, S., & Agrawal, R. (2018). Environmentally responsible consumption: Construct definition, scale development, and validation. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(4), 523–536. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1476

Herabadi, A. G., Bella, E. S., Adishesa, S., & Nugroho, W. C. (2023). Keep your litter in the loop: Predicting Generation Z’s intention to recycle single-use plastic waste. Psychological Research on Urban Society, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.7454/proust.v6i1.1103

Huluka, A. T. (2022). Is there any gender difference in environmental concern? Evidence from the smallholder farmers in Oromia regional state of Ethiopia. Cogent Social Sciences, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2022.2103284

Jekria, N., & Daud, S. (2016). Environmental concern and recycling behaviour. Procedia Economics and Finance, 35, 667–673. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(16)00082-4

Jeong, H. J., & Kim, M. (2023). Appealing to Gen Z with Mother Nature for sustainable consumption: With mediation of psychological closeness to nature and consequence of psychological well‐being. Journal of Consumer Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2222

Kamenidou, I. C., Mamalis, S. A., Pavlidis, S., & Bara, E.-Z. G. (2019). Segmenting the Generation Z cohort university students based on sustainable food consumption behavior: A preliminary study. Sustainability, 11(3), 837. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030837

Kellert, S. R., & Wilson, E. O. (1993). The biophilia hypothesis. Island Press.

Kristiawan, A. M., -, Y.-, & Marlina, N.-. (2023). Evaluasi Peraturan Walikota Semarang Nomor 27 Tahun 2019 Tentang Pengendalian Penggunaan Plastik. Journal of Politic and Government Studies, 12(3), 755–776. https://ejournal3.undip.ac.id/index.php/jpgs/article/view/40060

KumparanNews. (2023). Pemkot: Warga Semarang hasilkan 120 ton sampah plastik setiap hari. https://kumparan.com/kumparannews/pemkot-warga-semarang-hasilkan-120-ton-sampah-plastik-setiap-hari-1yXvzsgp6OV

Le, T. D., Duc Tran, H., & Hoang, T. Q. H. (2022). Ethically minded consumer behavior of Generation Z in Vietnam: The impact of socialization agents and environmental concern. Cogent Business & Management, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2102124

Mayer, F. S., & Frantz, C. M. (2004). The connectedness to nature scale: A measure of individuals’ feeling in community with nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24(4), 503–515. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2004.10.001

Michie, S., van Stralen, M.M. & West, R. (2011). The behaviour change wheel: A new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions. Implementation Science, 6, 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-6-42

Nikolić, T. M., Paunović, I., Milovanović, M., Lozović, N., & Đurović, M. (2022). Examining Generation Z’s attitudes, behavior and awareness regarding eco-products: A Bayesian approach to confirmatory factor analysis. Sustainability, 14(5), 2727. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052727

Nisbet, E. K., & Zelenski, J. M. (2013). The NR-6: A new brief measure of nature relatedness. Frontiers in Psychology, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00813

Nisbet, E. K., Zelenski, J. M., & Murphy, S. A. (2009). The Nature Relatedness Scale. Environment and Behavior, 41(5), 715–740. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916508318748

Obery, A., & Bangert, A. (2017). Exploring the influence of nature relatedness and perceived science knowledge on proenvironmental behavior. Education Sciences, 7(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci7010017

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2022). Plastic management challenges. https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/en/data-insights/plastic-waste-management-challenges

Parzonko, A. J., Balińska, A., & Sieczko, A. (2021). Pro-environmental behaviors of Generation Z in the context of the concept of homo socio-oeconomicus. Energies, 14(6), 1597. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14061597

Peattie, K., & Peattie, S. (2009). Social marketing: A pathway to consumption reduction? Journal of Business Research, 62(2), 260–268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2008.01.033

Pigawati, B., Yuliastuti, N., & Mardiansjah, F. H. (2019). Settlements growth and development in Semarang City Centre Area, Indonesia. Journal of Settlements and Spatial Planning, 10(2), 99–109. https://doi.org/10.24193/jssp.2019.2.03

Prayag, G., Aquino, R. S., Hall, C. M., Chen, N. (Chris), & Fieger, P. (2022). Is Gen Z really that different? environmental attitudes, travel behaviours and sustainability practices of international tourists to Canterbury, New Zealand. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2022.2131795

Pristl, A., Kilian, S., & Mann, A. (2021). When does a social norm catch the worm? Disentangling social normative influences on sustainable consumption behaviour. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 20(3), 635–654. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1890

Quoquab, F., & Mohammad, J. (2017). Managing sustainable consumption: Is it a problem or panacea? In: Leal Filho, W., Pociovalisteanu, DM., Al-Amin, A. (Eds.), Sustainable Economic Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45081-0_7

Quoquab, F., Mohammad, J., & Sukari, N. N. (2019). A multiple-item scale for measuring “sustainable consumption behaviour” construct. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 31(4), 791–816. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-02-2018-0047

Redondo, R., Valor, C., & Carrero, I. (2022). Unraveling the relationship between well-being, sustainable consumption and nature relatedness: A study of university students. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 17(2), 913–930. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-021-09931-9

Schultz, P. W. (2000). New environmental theories: Empathizing with nature: The effects of perspective taking on concern for environmental issues. Journal of Social Issues, 56(3), 391–406. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00174

Schultz, P. W., & Tabanico, J. (2007). Self, identity, and the natural environment: Exploring implicit connections with nature. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37(6), 1219–1247. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2007.00210.x

Schultz, W. P. (2012). Inclusion with Nature: The psychology of human-nature relations. In P. Schmuck & W. P. Schultz (Eds.), Psychology of Sustainable Development. Springer New York.

Sheoran, M., & Kumar, D. (2022). Conceptualisation of sustainable consumer behaviour: Converging the theory of planned behaviour and consumption cycle. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, 17(1), 103–135. https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-05-2020-1940

Statistics Indonesia. (2021). Hasil Sensus Penduduk 2020.

Steg, L., & Vlek, C. (2009). Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour: An integrative review and research agenda. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29(3), 309–317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2008.10.004

Suki, M. N. (2016). Consumer environmental concern and green product purchase in Malaysia: structural effects of consumption values. Journal of Cleaner Production, 132, 204–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.09.087

Swami, V., Chamorro-Premuzic, T., Snelgar, R., & Furnham, A. (2010). Egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric environmental concerns: A path analytic investigation of their determinants. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51(2), 139–145. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2009.00760.x

Tarabashkina, O. (2022). Promoting sustainable consumption: The role of social norms, ingroup framing and identification . University of Adelaide.

United Nations. (1987). Report of the world commission on environment and development.

White, K., Habib, R., & Hardisty, D. J. (2019). How to shift consumer behaviors to be more sustainable: A literature review and guiding framework. Journal of Marketing, 83(3), 22–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242919825649

Wilson, E. O. (1984). Biophilia. Harvard University Press.

World Bank. (2021). Plastic waste discharges from rivers and coastlines in Indonesia. https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/indonesia/publication/plastic-waste-discharges-from-rivers-and-coastlines-in-indonesia

Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.