Quantifying the direct and indirect effect of socio-psychological and behavioral factors on residential water conservation behavior and consumption in Japan

Promoting residential water conservation is an important aspect of addressing water shortages caused by the rapidly increasing demand for water in both developed and developing countries. For this purpose, to measure how different social, psychological, and behavioral variables influence individual water use and conservation behavior, a questionnaire survey of 514 Japanese adults was conducted. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the direct and indirect effects of these factors on consumption and conservation practices by con-trolling multiple demographic variables. The suggested model explained 55% and 57% of the variation in water consumption and conservation behavior respectively. Results suggest that families are more likely to adopt water conservation practices and use less water if they have positive attitude, greater awareness and responsibility about water issues, stronger emotions, habits and involvement in water-saving initiatives or campaigns. An ordered logistic regression analysis was also carried out to confirm the robustness of the results.