Attitude, behaviour and choice: the role of psychosocial drivers in water demand management in Singapore

ABSTRACT

The integration of environmental psychology into the broader domain of water demand research is a growing aspect of water policy. This article contends that effective water demand management policies can only be developed through an identification of the key psychosocial drivers of water use and conservation. By situating goal-framing theory in the context of residential water consumption in Singapore, the article analyzes the determinants of water conservation behaviour. Appealing for a shift away from policies designed to gratify people’s hedonic and gain goals, it asserts that greater priority should be placed on strengthening people’s normative goals towards water conservation.

KEYWORDS:

• Public policy
• water demand management
• normative goals
• environmental psychology
• Singapore

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to Dr Cecilia Tortajada for her patience and helpful comments to improve this article. A deeper appreciation goes to her role as an educator, for the invaluable teaching and inspiration she gave in class. It was during this time that the ideas presented herein were initially conceptualized, and shortly after, the encouragement to polish the initial manuscript for publication.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.