Does changing behavioral intentions engender actual behavior change? The context of coastal ecological engineering

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 216; p. 117978
• Main Authors: Huang, Yali, Zhang, Xiaoling, Leung, Kenneth Mei Yee, Bradford, Thea, Astudillo, Juan Carlos, Sheng, Xushan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2025
• Subjects: Adult; behavior change; Conservation of Natural Resources; Ecologically engineering; Ecology; ecosystem engineering; ecosystem engineers; emotions; Engineering; Female; Humans; Information interventions; Intention; Intention-behavior gap; Male; marine pollution; Pro-environmental behaviors; Pro-environmental intention; Pro-environmental intention; Information interventions; Pro-environmental behaviors; Ecologically engineering; Intention-behavior gap
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.117978

Environmental communication effectively influences environmental intentions, yet its ability to translate these intentions into actual behavior changes remains understudied, especially in coastal ecological engineering contexts. This study investigates this potential inconsistency by employing the intention-behavior gap concept and examining the impact of four distinct informational interventions: social pressure, negative framing, positive framing, and emotion. Based on a between-subject experiment and the data from 5258 participants, our findings revealed that information conveying social pressure, positive framing, and emotional appeals significantly increased participants' intentions in comparison to the control group. However, none of the information interventions significantly affected actual behavior in support of ecological engineering. Consequently, social pressure, positive framing, and emotion information slightly yet significantly enlarge the intention-behavior gap. Additionally, our results suggest that positive framing surpasses negative framing in eliciting supportive intentions for ecological engineering. Finally, different types of past behaviors appear to influence subsequent actions through different mechanisms. •Ecological engineering (EE) of shorelines can enhance marine biodiversity.•Information interventions aim to narrow intention-behavior gaps for supporting EE.•Social pressure, positive framing & emotion information gained supportive intention.•These three factors also enlarged the intention-behavior gap.•None of the information interventions enhanced participants’ supportive behavior.