Sustainable Consumption Behaviors of Elementary School Parents and Their Encouragements for Their Children

Abstract

In this study, we aim to determine the sustainable consumption behaviors of elementary school parents and their encouragement for their children in this regard. The sample of the study consisted of 571 elementary school parents who live in the western part of Turkey. Survey research and causal comparative research designs were implemented as the quantitative research methods. “Sustainable Consumption Behavior Scale” and open-ended questions were used to measure the parents’ sustainable consumption behaviors as well as their encouragement of their kids to adopt similar practices. In the analysis of the data, T-test, ANOVA, and descriptive analysis were used. Findings show that the parents display sustainable consumption behaviors at the “Often” level. The saving-based behaviors in the sustainable consumption scale are at the “Always” level. We found that there is no significant difference in the sustainable consumption behaviors of parents in terms of their gender, educational status, income level, and the grade level of their children. 48.7% of the parents stated that they do activities at home with their children for the purpose of environmental education, while 43.1% of the parents stated that they do not do activities at home. The activities parents do at home are mostly regarding environmental pollution and garbage production. Parents stated that they primarily focus on the “unnecessary purchasing” sub-dimension when addressing sustainable consumption behaviors with their children. In addition, parents mostly preferred the expressions for “verbal warning” and “giving advice” in order to teach their children sustainable consumption behaviors. Suggestions for researchers and educators were provided according to our findings.