An Augmented Norm Activation Model: The Case of Residential Outdoor Water Use

Understanding the factors that influence voluntary conservation is critical for developing effective residential water conservation policy. Previous work drawing on Schwartz's Norm Activation Model (NAM) has been useful to understand some of these factors. However, one's relationship with the broader community impacted by consumptive decisions has often been overlooked. Similarly, scholars have emphasized the importance of contextual factors not captured in the NAM. In this study we hypothesize and test an augmented NAM that incorporates community attachment, along with contextual variables (sociodemographic and household infrastructure), to understand the factors that lead to the development of moral obligations to conserve water and their relationship with residential outdoor water use. Results indicate personal norms, defined as a moral obligation to conserve water, are negatively related to outdoor water use, and that community attachment is a predictor of personal norms. Contextual factors are found to have an influence on outdoor water use.