AUTHOR=Varni Alexander , Thai Chan L. , Jamaleddine Sandra 

TITLE=Using an Instagram campaign to influence knowledge, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intentions for sustainable behaviors

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1377211

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1377211

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>Climate change poses one of the most pervasive threats to the planet today. Intervention is required to promote pro-environmental behaviors among individuals to curb its effects. Borrowing several constructs from the Theory of Planned Behavior, we designed and evaluated a campaign, delivered primarily through Instagram, to shift sustainability-related cognitions and behaviors among university students.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>An online survey was distributed to undergraduate students at a Northern California university and collected responses from 1,552 participants.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Comparing students who self-reported exposure to the campaign with those who were not exposed, students who observed the campaign materials had more knowledge about (<italic>p</italic> &lt; .001), greater perceived social norms about (<italic>p</italic> &lt; .001), and greater intentions to perform sustainable behaviors (<italic>p</italic> &lt; .001). There were also increases in sustainable behaviors during the campaign, compared to the previous academic term.</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>Implementing campaigns inspired by behavior change theories may be one viable strategy to increase individual sustainable behaviors for climate change mitigation.</p></sec>