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Top1. Introduction
Student engagement in environmental activities and green initiatives on campus changes their behaviour towards environmentalism due to the belief and perception that they can contribute to saving the earth for future generations through a greener environment (Lee, Hsu, Han & Kim 2010). They prefer to use and buy environmentally sound products at any cost, and refuse to purchase those that harm the environment as they are concerned about their health and their environment (Chen & Chang 2012; Norazah 2013a; 2013b). Different programs and initiatives of sustainability on campus, such as recycling, influence the level of environmental awareness among the students and academic staff (Pereira, Jabbour, de Oliveira & Teixeira 2012).
Universiti Malaysia Sabah is the only university in east Malaysia with eco-campus status and which aims for full-fledged EcoCampus status by the year 2018. UMS has outlined several environmental awareness strategies, including educational displays and presentations, in order to attain this goal and boost continuous energy awareness in the university (EcoCampus Management Centre 2014). Pro-recycling attitudes are influenced by recycling knowledge, opportunities and available facilities whereas recycling consequences, community concern, and experience with recycling also facilitate the prediction of recycling behaviour (Tonglet, Phillips & Read 2004).
Environmental issues have been widely examined in studies conducted in Western countries (Biswas & Roy 2015a; 2015b; Boztepe 2012; Haws, Winterich & Naylor 2014; Kai, Chen, Chuan, Seong & Kevin 2013; Maniatis 2015; Thogersen, Jorgensen, & Sandager 2012; Tseng & Hung 2013). Another study on consumer purchase behaviour toward environmentally friendly products was investigated in Japan (Udo 2007), but insufficiently in other Asian countries, including Malaysia (Lee 2008). Moreover, currently there is no specific, significant information on students’ intentions to engage in environmental activities and green initiatives on campus, in the Malaysian context. Biswas and Roy (2015a; 2015b) call for new research efforts to inspect the progression of consumers’ attitudes, intentions, and behaviour towards green products. Hence, this study addresses this discrepancy by establishing evidence of the structural connection between attitudes towards environmental activities, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control, and students’ intentions to engage in environmental activities and green initiatives on campus by engaging the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as the research framework. It also investigates the moderating effects of actual engagement with environmental activities such as using recycle bins in the campus on students’ intention to engage in campus environmental activities and green initiatives.
It is vital for the university management to understand the dimensions of students’ intentions to engage in environmental activities and green initiatives on campus. This demand is supported by Norazah (2013a; 2013b) who pointed out that it is important to further investigate consumer attitudes and perceptions. The research makes a significant contribution to a solid understanding of the vital factors that impact students’ intentions to engage in environmental activities and green initiatives on campus, including the role of actual engagement with environmental activities such as using recycle bins in the campus as the moderator, which is barely touched on in the literature in the Asian context.