How to increase students' motivation to engage in university initiatives towards environmental sustainability

• Published date: 01 July 2023
• Author: Israel‐Javier Juma‐Michilena,Maria‐Eugenia Ruiz‐Molina,Irene Gil‐Saura,Sergio Belda‐Miquel
• Date: 01 July 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12527

RESEARCH ARTICLE

How to increase students' motivation to engage

in university initiatives towards environmental

sustainability

Israel-Javier Juma-Michilena

1

| Maria-Eugenia Ruiz-Molina

2

|

Irene Gil-Saura

2

| Sergio Belda-Miquel

3

1

Universidad Técnica del Norte, Ibarra,

Ecuador

2

Department of Marketing and Market

Research, Faculty of Economics,

University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

3

Faculty of Social Sciences, Universitat de

València (Spain), Valencia, Spain

Correspondence

Maria-Eugenia Ruiz-Molina, Department

of Marketing and Market Research,

University of Valencia, Av. Tarongers

s/n. Edif. Dep. Oriental. Valencia 46022,

Spain.

Email: m.eugenia.ruiz@uv.es

Funding information

Erasmus+European Commission,

Grant/Award Number: 610032-EPP-

1-2019-1-CO-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP(2019 –

20); Funding for Consolidated Research

teams of the Regional Council of

Innovation, Universities, Science and

Digital Society, Grant/Award Number:

AICO2021/144/GVA; MCIN/AEI/

10.13039/501100011033, Grant/Award

Number: PID2020-112660RB-I00

Abstract

Nowadays, it is of vital importance to make students

aware of the problems that can be generated by the

deterioration of the environment. The purpose of this

study is to establish a suitable mechanism to predict

behavior and to investigate the actions that most moti-

vate students to participate in sustainability activities

both on and off campus. To achieve this objective, a

sample of 1446 students from nine Latin American uni-

versities is analyzed using the CHAID algorithm as a

segmentation technique. In this way, the aim is to iden-

tify the most relevant actions that allow students to be

segmented according to their motivations. From a theo-

retical point of view, the effectiveness of this segmenta-

tion technique in the context of environmental

sustainability is confirmed, and from a practical point

of view, university managers are provided with guide-

lines on the most effective measures to motivate stu-

dents to develop pro-environmental behavior.

KEYWORDS

environmental sustainability, extrinsic motivation, intrinsic

motivation, university community

Received: 5 April 2022 Revised: 26 February 2023 Accepted: 30 March 2023

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12527

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits

use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or

adaptations are made.

© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Consumer Affairs published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Council on Consumer

Interests.

1304 J Consum Aff. 2023;57:1304–1323.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca

1|INTRODUCTION

Universities today have a specific mission in society, which involves a significant role in work-

ing toward sustainability (Yuan & Zuo, 2013). In recent years, sustainable development has

become a constant theme, not only in the academic community but also among national and

international organizations and governments (Leal Filho et al., 2020). Sustainability actions are

considered to play a key role in creating a promising future for societies and can support the

ability to respond to today's pressing global challenges (Andrijevic et al., 2020; Pirouz

et al., 2020).

In this sense, universities are called upon to contribute to sustainability through actions

such as education, research, and dissemination (Beynaghi et al., 2016). Therefore, by compiling

and formulating appropriate study plans, the university can shape the personality of students

by setting an example for other social agents (Dagili

utėet al., 2018). In order to do so, it is first

necessary to understand the motivations or actions that encourage the student to participate in

sustainable actions, and for this reason, our study focuses on the determinants of motivation.

We decided to address this issue because of the economic, social, and environmental signifi-

cance that sustainability has in today's world. It should not be overlooked that one of the pri-

mary objectives of organizations is to help preserve the environment in which we live.

However, there have been no significant changes in the approach to this problem and we

believe that the most appropriate way to progress in this area is through student motivation.

Shapiro (2009) affirms that universities have two roles: one is to serve society, and the other is

to challenge society to shape a better future. Universities, as producers of future leaders and pol-

icy makers, are tasked with an enabling change toward sustainable development

(de Lange, 2013). All this, with the aim that its members reflect and transmit this behavior to

their families, social groups, and other members of society. Saracoglu and Ozen (2020) mention

that universities are in charge of educating the people who administer and manage institutions,

and, as such, they have the responsibility of using resources to create awareness and promote

environmental stewardship and literacy. Although higher education institutions build bridges

in collaboration between the community and the university in sustainability actions, this link is

poorly developed and students are the ones expected to become involved in the construction

and strengthening of society in regard to sustainable practices (Budowle et al., 2021).

Similarly, we have detected a research gap in the behavior of university students. Although

there are countless studies related to sustainability and the university, to the best of our knowl-

edge, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations have not been analyzed as a differential factor to pre-

dict behavior, and in this way, encourage the participation of its members. Growing interest in

the preservation of the environment on the part of organizations has been accompanied by sev-

eral initiatives to develop guidelines, standards, and tools to inform, manage and evaluate sus-

tainability practices and results (Gamage & Sciulli, 2017). However, none of these studies have

shown real effectiveness as society continues to behave without due care or thought and no sig-

nificant changes have been observed. Given that consumer segments may differ in perceptions,

preferences and other characteristics (Meng & Olsen, 2022; Sheng et al., 2021), segmentation

may allow decision-makers to gain insight into the potential effectiveness in their actions and

communication strategies across groups of individuals (Stewart, 2022).

Therefore, the objective of this study is to carry out a segmentation of university students

that allows us to define homogeneous groups and helps us to understand the motivating factors

behind their participation in actions related to sustainability. For this, we opted for the CHAID

decision tree technique due to the ease with which the results can be interpreted (Saracoglu &

JUMA-MICHILENA ET AL.1305