Emotions are particularly important predictor of environment sustainable behavior. Research has found that there is a close positive link between emotional responses and willingness to commit to pro-environmental behaviors.

A moderate amount of fear along with a perception of environmental risk can be useful motivating factors to observe desired behaviors. However, is it effective?

Unfortunately, not effective on its own. This could be seen when the government uses fear-inducing strategies for behaviors such as drinking and driving or delinquency. The use of this strategy has been observed to have backlashed and is ineffective at achieving desired behaviors.

Emotion-inducing strategy may only be an effective motivation for action when an individual is simultaneously provided with information about actions that can be taken to overcome the risk, or perform desired behavior.

In the case of waste disposable, what do you feel when you see this picture?

 

• Do you feel disgusted by the amount of waste generated by people?
• Do you feel upset about how much waste is harming the environment – water?
• Does this picture urge you to make a difference to reduce this amount of waste?

These are some questions that you or others might ask yourselves, and all of which are emotionally-evocative. 

These emotions you have when you see this picture may influence your subsequent actions towards being more environmentally conscious. People who are upset about this large amount of waste may be more motivated to reduce the waste they produce on a daily basis, and do their part at conserving the environment. Whereas, for people who are oblivious to this picture, they may continue to be ignorant about their waste creation.