Antecedents of citizens' environmental complaint intention in China: An empirical study based on norm activation model

In this paper, we explore antecedents of citizens' self-reported environmental complaint intention in China by drawing on the norm activation model, and test the plausibility of the norm activation model to predict public sphere pro-environmental intention/behavior. We evaluate the applicability and strength of the three alternative interpretations of the norm activation model: the moderator model and two mediator models. The models were empirically tested using survey data collected from twenty-nine cities at the prefecture and provincial levels in northern China. The results of structural analysis demonstrate that both of the two mediator models of norm activation model can adequately be employed to explain self-reported environmental complaint intention. Personal norm is the most immediate and influential predictor of environmental complaint intention. Personal norm also significantly mediates the relationship between ascribed responsibility and environmental complaint intention. Awareness of consequences is found to either directly trigger personal norm or to indirectly influence personal norm through the mediation of ascribed responsibility. The findings verify the plausibility and applicability of the norm activation model in explaining public-sphere pro-environmental intention/behavior.