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295 Evolutions in Methods and Technology for Research in Pro-environmental Behavior DOUGLAS L. BESSETTE AND ROBERT B. RICHARDSON Motivating pro-environmental behavior is fundamental to the transition to a green economy and demands an understanding of the determinants of human behavior generally. Most examinations of the factors that influence behavior rely upon stated-preference surveys, and survey research has long been associated with several types of error or bias, including reactivity, satisficing, recall error, and social desirability bias. Similarly, revealedpreference methods also have shortcomings that limit their usefulness in understanding the determinants of behavior. The experience sampling method has been used to collect information about the context and content of the daily life of individuals, and the method has potential to contribute to the analysis and understanding of the determinants of pro-environmental behaviors. We examined the evolution in research on pro-environmental behavior and explored the potential of the experience sampling method to be deployed using mobile-phone technology to analyze the determinants of behavior. The objective was to develop and test a robust, rapidly deployable, and near real-time instrument for examining individuals’ attitudes, values, well-being, and private-sphere pro-environmental behaviors. By combining questions about daily experiences with multimedia and direct behavioral monitoring, we concluded that the use of smart phones in experience sampling can be effective in the analysis of behavior and its determinants. ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS AND PROENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR RESEARCH Transitioning to a green economy will require behavioral changes at multiple levels and scales. It will require individuals, communities, firms, and institutions to investigate their privateand public-sphere behaviors at a personal, corporate, and geopolitical level. Pro-environmental behaviors (PEB), or actions that aim to reduce the use of materials and energy from the environment and minimize effects to the structure of and dynamics of ecosystems (Stern, 2000), must increase as a share of all behaviors if achieving sustainability is a true objective. How to achieve such an increase remains unclear, however, primarily because altering behavior is so 296| Bessette and Richardson difficult. Even incentives for prosocial behavior financially often fail to achieve their objectives (e.g., Charness and Gneezy, 2009; Gneezy and Rustichini, 2000). Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of ecological economists, if for lack of a better contestant, to advance an understanding of the determinants of PEBs and incorporate those findings into the literature related to business, regulatory and even household, or private-sphere, affairs. Understanding the motivations to engage in PEBs will be critical in the development of policies or incentives necessary to promote PEBs, such as reuse, recycling, using public transit, installing energyefficient appliances, and conserving energy. Motivating PEBs demands an understanding of the determinants of human behaviors. For over a century, behavioral scientists, social psychologists, behavioral economists, and sociologists have developed a number of theories to explain the factors, conditions, and processes that shape human behavior. Fishbein and Ajzen (1980) have studied the influences of attitudes and intentions. Schwartz (1973) argues behavior is influenced by prosocial personal norms. Kasser (2010) emphasizes the role of individual values. Guagnano, Stern, and Dietz (1995) have investigated the power of a combination of values, beliefs, and norms, and more recently, Stern (2000) has suggested that the determinants of behavior may include socioeconomic constraints that are wholly external to the individual. Neoclassical economic theory assumes that individual decisions are based on a specific definition of rational self-interest, while Simon (1952) argues that individuals “satisfice,” or more simply do the best they can under the circumstances. Until recently, much of this behavioral research has existed outside the realm of or only contributed diminutively to socio-environmental study. As a result, a multitude of perspectives from various disciplines have shaped policies that aim to influence behavior, resulting in an array of financial and nonfinancial incentives, rewards, regulations, and penalties. Yet almost all of these perspectives rely on a single method to investigate behavioral determinants : the single-administration paper, telephone, or computer survey. Despite the large number and wide variety of theories, the manner of investigating behavioral determinants through individual and household surveys has been particularly consistent over the years. The use of surveys in the analysis of behavior involves the collection of data about particular determinants that are hypothesized to influence behavior, such as stated beliefs, intentions, values, or knowledge, and that determinant is then tested as a predictor of a particular behavior or group of behaviors using statistical analysis. Variation in the specifics of each determinant obviously makes for unique approaches within single theoretical...

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