Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 103940 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of transport geography |
| Volume | 118 |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2024 |
Abstract
Transportation is a main contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. For a sustainable transformation, consumers play a crucial role. While sustainability gains importance and is reflected in consumers' attitudes, consumers' behaviour does not always align with their sustainability attitudes - a discrepancy called the attitude behaviour gap. The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted people's daily lives and transport choices, potentially altering their attitude behaviour gap. Thus, the pandemic presents a unique opportunity to understand how crises and disruptions can lead to changes in the alignment between sustainable intentions and actions. Using local survey data from Germany, we identify socio-economic factors and transport infrastructure as key contributors to misalignments between attitudes and behaviour. Notably, during the pandemic, this gap widened, particularly among women and those with children, increasing inequalities among different socio-economic groups. This highlights the need for tailored policies to address the distinct mobility needs of these groups to allow them to act according to their attitudes and counteract increasing inequalities. Moreover, our findings underscore the importance of transitioning from individual motorized transport to public and more active modes of transport. This transition is particularly crucial in the German context, where levels of individual motorized transport are exceptionally high.
Keywords
- Attitude behaviour gap, COVID-19, Crisis, Mobility, Sustainable consumption, Transportation mode choice
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Social Sciences(all)
- Transportation
- Environmental Science(all)
- General Environmental Science
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In: Journal of transport geography, Vol. 118, 103940, 06.2024.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Widening the gap?
T2 - Evidence from Germany for changes in the attitude behaviour gap for transportation during COVID-19
AU - Nolte, Kerstin
AU - Schaefer, Kerstin J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024
PY - 2024/6
Y1 - 2024/6
N2 - Transportation is a main contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. For a sustainable transformation, consumers play a crucial role. While sustainability gains importance and is reflected in consumers' attitudes, consumers' behaviour does not always align with their sustainability attitudes - a discrepancy called the attitude behaviour gap. The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted people's daily lives and transport choices, potentially altering their attitude behaviour gap. Thus, the pandemic presents a unique opportunity to understand how crises and disruptions can lead to changes in the alignment between sustainable intentions and actions. Using local survey data from Germany, we identify socio-economic factors and transport infrastructure as key contributors to misalignments between attitudes and behaviour. Notably, during the pandemic, this gap widened, particularly among women and those with children, increasing inequalities among different socio-economic groups. This highlights the need for tailored policies to address the distinct mobility needs of these groups to allow them to act according to their attitudes and counteract increasing inequalities. Moreover, our findings underscore the importance of transitioning from individual motorized transport to public and more active modes of transport. This transition is particularly crucial in the German context, where levels of individual motorized transport are exceptionally high.
AB - Transportation is a main contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. For a sustainable transformation, consumers play a crucial role. While sustainability gains importance and is reflected in consumers' attitudes, consumers' behaviour does not always align with their sustainability attitudes - a discrepancy called the attitude behaviour gap. The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted people's daily lives and transport choices, potentially altering their attitude behaviour gap. Thus, the pandemic presents a unique opportunity to understand how crises and disruptions can lead to changes in the alignment between sustainable intentions and actions. Using local survey data from Germany, we identify socio-economic factors and transport infrastructure as key contributors to misalignments between attitudes and behaviour. Notably, during the pandemic, this gap widened, particularly among women and those with children, increasing inequalities among different socio-economic groups. This highlights the need for tailored policies to address the distinct mobility needs of these groups to allow them to act according to their attitudes and counteract increasing inequalities. Moreover, our findings underscore the importance of transitioning from individual motorized transport to public and more active modes of transport. This transition is particularly crucial in the German context, where levels of individual motorized transport are exceptionally high.
KW - Attitude behaviour gap
KW - COVID-19
KW - Crisis
KW - Mobility
KW - Sustainable consumption
KW - Transportation mode choice
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85198289885&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2024.103940
DO - 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2024.103940
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85198289885
VL - 118
JO - Journal of transport geography
JF - Journal of transport geography
SN - 0966-6923
M1 - 103940
ER -