Attitude Toward Sustainable Transport as a Function of Source and Argument Reliability and Anticipated Emotions

Abstract

The progressive development of mass communication has allowed the understanding and management of the persuasion process in a more systematic way. However, nowadays, persuasive campaigns still hardly result in behavior changes, particularly around concerns of the promotion of more sustainable lifestyles. Thus, it appears essential to investigate which dimensions are more effective in influencing people’s pro-environmental actions. Relying on the conceptual frameworks provided by the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and the model of goal-directed behavior (MGB), a questionnaire study (n = 380 urban residents) was carried out on the psycho-social antecedents of the intention to use sustainable means of transport. Structural equation modeling showed the mediating role of attitudes toward sustainable transport between ELM persuasion features (i.e., source reliability and argument reliability) and behavioral intention. Positive and negative anticipated emotions, derived from MGB, predict source reliability (the former) and argument reliability (the latter), respectively.