title: Greening the greenhouse grower. A behavioral analysis of a sector-initiated system to reduce the environmental load of greenhouses.
abstract: Growing plants and flowers in greenhouses is a commercial activity that imposes a burden on the environment. Recently a system of registration, control, and licensing has been developed by the sector of greenhouse growers in the Netherlands, acknowledged by the state. The current study was executed to understand the achievements of the greenhouse growers within this system. We applied a social-cognitive model to understand intentions to reduce emissions and predict actual pesticide use. The social-cognitive concepts from the model were measured in a questionnaire that was completed by 743 greenhouse growers. Factual information on these growers' pesticide use in 2004 and 2005 was provided by the agency responsible for the program, and could be linked to the questionnaire data. Using structural equation modeling we found that intention to reduce emission was primarily predicted by the attitude, descriptive norm, and self-efficacy. Actual pesticide use was predicted by the interaction of intention and response efficacy. Results can be used to improve communication with growers, focusing on the influential determinants of intention and behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Centre for Energy and Environmental Research, Leiden University, PO Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden, The Netherlands. staats@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
authors.forename: Henk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Staats
authors.forename: Lilian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thøgersen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D001290:Attitude; D001519:Behavior; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009426:Netherlands; D010575:Pesticides; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D010575:Pesticides