Influential Factors on Pro-Environmental Behaviors—A Case Study in Tokyo and Seoul

Abstract

To develop the low-carbon society, in addition to the efforts by industrial and commercial sectors, promotion of people’s pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) has become one of the key issues. Some PEBs have been investigated in previous studies, however, the targets were limited to particular behaviors (i.e., recycling, water saving, electricity saving). The holistic view of understanding the characteristics of PEBs has remained insufficient. In this study, we selected 58 daily PEBs from various fields and investigated people’s practice rates and attitudes in Seoul and Tokyo. The questionnaire surveys were conducted and 2393 (Seoul) and 2220 (Tokyo) valid responses were analyzed. Most PEBs had significantly different practice rates between Seoul and Tokyo. It can be concluded that the surrounding conditions, such as policy and infrastructure, have some influences on these differences. The positions of the reasons to practice or not to practice PEBs were visualized using multiple correspondence analyses. The results indicated that the monetary reason was the common factor for many PEBs, while some PEBs showed different reasons. The socio-demographic effects were not significantly different between the two regions. Commonly, women and older people showed more activities on PEBs.