Green Worship: The Effects of Devotional and Behavioral Factors on Adopting Electronic Incense Products in Religious Practices

Abstract

The Buddhist tradition of incense burning has been practiced in many Asian countries. Prior studies have indicated that frequent exposure to incense smoke is linked to carcinogen-related health issues. However, widespread acceptance of health-friendly electronic incense and rituals remains limited. Based on theories of religious perceptions and health behavior, the present study aims to identify the factors which influence the acceptance of electronic incense burning in religious practices. A between-subjects (105 Buddhist participants) experiment was designed to compare the effects of different incense burners on religiosity, worship intention, perceived self-efficacy, health-promotion intention, and its underlying mechanism. Our results imply that Buddhists tend to show similar religiosity and worship intention in three different scenarios, namely, the usage of a traditional incense burner, an electronic incense burner, and an electronic burner attached with a doctrine reminder. Buddhists also tend to have a higher perceived self-efficacy and higher health-promotion intention when exposed to electronic incense scenarios (either with or without the attached doctrine reminder). The perceived self-efficacy was found to mediate the effect of the incense burning on health-promotion intention. Important implications for public policies are also discussed.