SINGAPORE HOUSEHOLDS AND THEIR PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR TOWARDS WATER AND ENERGY CONSERVATION

Abstract

In view of global climate change issues and their impacts on Singapore, much has been planned and implemented on a national and corporate level in response. However, going down the demand chain, there lies much potential from each consumer’s effort to help mitigate climate change impact. One key sector that could be tapped on in this area would be the household sector. This dissertation thus aims to explore pro-environmental behaviour of the local household sector; in particular, water and energy conservation practices are examined. It involves an experiment and an observational study, and this study comprises three areas of focus altogether: Firstly, pre experiment, public pro-environmental campaigns and their impacts on a sample of households are explored, followed by their current practices in conserving energy and water. Next, with the experiment and observational study, the focus lies in effecting positive pro-environmental behavioural change amongst the sample households, and determining the extent of such change. Then, the factors that had significantly influenced such change are examined. Finally, the third focus explores possible new behavioural intervention methods most suited for Singapore households, based on the sample’s responses to the experiment. The experiment had comprised four methods of behavioural intervention which differed from all public conservation programmes, and thus could be considered new locally. Though not representative of the population, it is hoped that this dissertation provides a better insight into local household environmental behaviour, and that findings from this study can be used by further works that revolve around this topic.