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This paper aims to determine how consumer innovativeness, susceptibility to interpersonal influence, personal norms, and innovation attribute perceptions affect the consumer decision to use, share, and own an e-scooter. The decision to use encompasses traveling using an e-scooter, sharing means using an e-scooter on a demand basis, and owning means buying an e-scooter for personal use. Consequently, this paper contributes to understanding novel mobility modes that aim to decrease the environmental problems in transport. It also develops knowledge about green innovations that could be perceived as causing more environmental problems than their traditional counterparts. A survey was conducted in Sweden with 1002 participants, who were non-users, owners, and sharers of e-scooters. Structural equation modelling showed that susceptibility to interpersonal influence and perceived safety attributes of e-scooters consistently positively influence decisions to use and own. This paper increases the understanding of factors influencing e-scooter use, sharing, and ownership, which is valuable for e-scooter businesses and service providers, transport agencies, and policy-makers

This paper reports on a study of car drivers' assessment of a sustainability policy involving increased car parking fees in Swedish city centers. The aim of the study was to investigate how framing of information in text and pictures influences acceptance of increasing car parking fees and how values, general beliefs and norms as well as measure-specific beliefs influence the acceptability of the measure. Drawing on Goal Framing Theory, the acceptance of a parking fee policy was tested using three different goal frames (hedonic, gain and normative); the frames were compared with each other and a control message. The study was based on a survey directed to residents (18 to 75 years of age) in 51 larger municipalities in Sweden. The survey had an experimental design. Respondents were presented with a scenario of an increase in parking fees to promote environmental sustainability. The scenario was presented in three ways (manipulations), highlighting hedonic (e.g., emotional), gain, and normative aspects, respectively, in text and pictures. The results showed that the three message frames had different effects and were overall more effective than the control message in engendering the desired reduction in private car use and, thus, the intended environmental impact. Further, the degree of acceptability of the increased parking fee influenced the expected behavioral change in the groups receiving a goal framed message in relation to the parking fee measure. Implications from a sustainability perspective concern the importance of how environmental policies are framed when communicated to the public in order to increase acceptance and support.

The successful implementation of energy efficiency measures in the residential sector will depend to a large extent on the attitudes and perceptions of the end-users since they are the final decision maker. The tenure of the housing could influence the building occupants' perspectives on energy issues. In this study we conducted a comparative evaluation of perspectives on energy use of three categories of households: those living in single family houses, tenants and owners' of apartment. The analysis is based on responses to a mail-in questionnaire by approximately 650 residents in Umeå, Sweden. Majority of the respondents believed that their annual household energy use is less. Residents in single-family houses, as compared to the other two types of tenure of the housing, were more likely to believe their heat energy use as high and likely to take actions to reduce the energy use. Financial incentives such as subsidy or lower interest rate were preferred by most of single-family homeowners (45%) to motivate them to take actions to reduce energy use. While personalized information to reduce energy use and lower interest rate and reduced rent are preferred by more residents in the other two categories. The implications for promoting energy efficient measures based on housing tenure is discussed.

Vuxna bör följa uppmaningen från ungdomarna i Fridays for future-rörelsen och protestera eftersom det politiska ledarskapet är otillräckligt. Omfattande och långvariga påtryckningar från hela samhället behövs för att få de politiskt ansvariga att utöva det ledarskap som klimatkrisen kräver, skriver 171 forskare i samhällsvetenskap och humaniora.

Interactive multimedia enables a mediated nature experience in ecologically vulnerable areas. The aim of this study is to clarify the social and individual motivational factors governing satisfaction with virtual nature tours. After visiting the Piusa Caves Nature Reserve in Estonia, and participating in its virtual tourism (VT), 299 tourists responded to a questionnaire regarding their natural and VT experiences. We use a general linear model to explore the effectiveness of predicting satisfaction with VT based on values, beliefs about treating nature, pro-ecological norms, and need for emotional arousal from virtual experiences. Compared to people with a high need for arousal, people with a low need are more easily satisfied with VT, regardless of its weak emotional triggers, e.g. lack of lively impressions, feeling of place change, and connection to real nature. Pro-ecological beliefs augment satisfaction with VT in people with a high need for arousal. Mediated nature experiences offer ways of engaging with nature more conveniently to hedonistic travellers and would likely be rejected by people who seek social interaction and physical challenges when travelling. As VT is better received among women, lower educated people, and 50–70-year-olds, these may be ideal target groups for promotion of mediated nature experiences.

This study explores cross-cultural differences in car travel behaviour in a northern and an eastern European country, namely Sweden and Estonia. We assess the role of country-specific socio-structural circumstances, and the influence of individual motivations, including social values, perceived seriousness of environmental problems associated with car use, and car use reduction intentions, in shaping the frequency of car use for different purposes. The results show that compared to Swedish people, people in Estonia are more dependent on cars in their everyday travel. Our study shows that higher social position is associated with higher frequency of car trips in more stratified Estonian society, but not necessarily where socio-economic differences are less pronounced, as in Sweden. Regarding the relative significance of values and intentions next to socio-economic determinants, values and intentions have a greater explanatory power of car use frequency in Estonia, compared to Sweden. That values and preferences play a smaller role in car travel frequency in the socio-economically more secure Sweden, indicates that car travel is a basic habit, which is not easily discernible through individual values and attitudes in more affluent societies. Differences in car travel frequencies between the respondents from different settlement types in Estonian but no differences between settlement types in Sweden, shows that a country's broader approach to managing the economic and social viability of its regions, may shape car travel needs and opportunities. The results of this study may have implications in terms of ways of curbing emissions from transportation in different parts of Europe.

This chapter discusses the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) that focuses on the role of individual costs and benefits, and the protection motivation theory (PMT) that assumes people consider individual and collective costs and benefits of behaviour. The chapter explains two theories that focus on morality: the norm activation model (NAM) theory and the value-belief-norm (VBN) theory of environmentalism. The norm activation model proposes that pro-environmental actions follow from the activation of personal norms, reflecting feelings of moral obligation to perform or refrain from actions. The VBN theory proposes that problem awareness depends on values and ecological worldviews. Goal-framing theory proposes that three general goals govern or ‘frame’ the way people process information and act upon it: the hedonic goal ‘to feel better right now’, the gain goal ‘to guard and improve one’s resources’, and the normative goal ‘to act appropriately’.

Fritidsresor svarar för drygt hälften av personresandet i Sverige mätt i kilometer. Huvuddelen av dessa resor (59 %) görs med bil, medan de kollektiva färdmedlen svarar för 10 %. Fritidsresorna är också längre än övriga resor, ca 51 km i genomsnitt. En överflyttning av i alla fall en del av fritidsresorna med bil till kollektiva färdmedel skulle ge märkbara effekter på koldioxidutsläpp, utsläpp av andra cancerogena ämnen samt trängsel i trafiken. I ett av Energimyndigheten finansierat projekt har vi undersökt hur olika åtgärder uppfattas av människor med olika transportresurser (tillgång till olika färdmedel och ekonomi) och transportbehov, vilka skillnader som finns mellan individer, och hur åtgärder kan utformas och presenteras för att upplevas som mer attraktiva. En del i projektet har riktats mot människors val av färdmedel vid semesterresor, och vilken roll tåg kan ha i detta val. Denna rapport handlar om just semesterresor, och hur människor värderar olika färdmedelsattribut vid längre resor.