Climate change risk perceptions and environmentally conscious behaviour among young environmentalists in Australia
Abstract
Purpose
The paper's aim is to investigate environmentally conscious behaviour among young individuals in Australia with special attention given to their climate change risk perceptions.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 20 in‐depth interviews were employed in this qualitative investigation. The informants of the investigation are young individuals (aged between 19‐25 years) in a major city in Australia. Twenty semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews ranging from 1.5‐3 hours were conducted. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to ensure informant diversity and access to “information rich” cases of youth engaged in environmental groups, activism and environmental behaviour.
Findings
Four thematic categories were derived. They are: unperceived adverse effects of climate change, disassociation between adverse effects of climate change and environmentally conscious behaviour, challenges to the dominant economic model and, redefined environmental paradigm
Research limitations/implications
Based on the implications of the findings, several recommendations for communicating climate change remedial actions and encouraging environmentally conscious behaviour among young individuals are made.
Originality/value
The study contributes toward enhancing the understanding of climate change risk perceptions and environmentally conscious behaviour among young environmentalists in Australia where studies on young consumers are scarce. Findings of the study are useful in gaining young individuals' support for the successful implementations of climate change remedial actions.
Keywords
Citation
Chamila Roshani Perera, L. and Rathnasiri Hewege, C. (2013), "Climate change risk perceptions and environmentally conscious behaviour among young environmentalists in Australia", Young Consumers, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 139-154. https://doi.org/10.1108/17473611311325546
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited