Towards sustainable consumption: an examination of environmental knowledge among Malaysians

Environmental problems are mainly attributable to the impact of humans on natural systems. In the case of Malaysia, rapid urbanization and Malaysian consumer’ pursuit of consumption‐oriented lifestyles have intensified the solid‐waste management problem faced by the government. Increasing public env...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of consumer studies 2005-09, Vol.29 (5), p.426-436
Main Authors: Haron, S.A, Paim, L, Yahaya, N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
attitudes and opinions
citizen participation
consumer attitudes
Consumer behavior
Consumer behaviour
consumer education
consumer information
Consumerism
Consumption
consumption (economics)
developing countries
Environment
Environmental conditions
Environmental education
Environmental impact
Environmental issues
environmental knowledge
Environmental protection
Households
Knowledge
lifestyle
Malaysia
mass media
Public awareness
Public opinion
radio
solid wastes
Studies
Sustainable consumption
Sustainable development
television
urbanization
Waste disposal
waste management
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Summary:Environmental problems are mainly attributable to the impact of humans on natural systems. In the case of Malaysia, rapid urbanization and Malaysian consumer’ pursuit of consumption‐oriented lifestyles have intensified the solid‐waste management problem faced by the government. Increasing public environmental awareness is a potential way of addressing this. The objectives of the study described here were to assess the level of environmental knowledge among households in Selangor in Malaysia, examine the sources of their environmental knowledge, determine factors that lead to different levels of knowledge and analyse the relationship between knowledge and environmental attitude, behaviour and participation. The results of the study indicate that, in general, respondents’ basic or general environmental knowledge was high. However, when questioned on various scientific environmental terms, the majority of the respondents were not familiar with most of them. Respondents indicated that their main sources of environmental knowledge and information were newspapers, television and radio. Lower levels of education were reflected in the level of environmental knowledge. Participation in environmental activities had a positive influence on knowledge. The study also found that knowledge correlated positively with environmental attitudes, behaviours and participation.
ISSN:1470-6423
1470-6431
DOI:10.1111/j.1470-6431.2005.00460.x