Transportation is a main contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. For a sustainable transformation consumers play a crucial role. Previous studies have shown that there is a large discrepancy between attitudes towards sustainability and actual behavior, the so-called "attitude-behaviour gap". In the article „Widening the Gap? Evidence from Germany for changes in the attitude behaviour gap for transportation during COVID-19” published in the Journal of Transport Geography, we examine the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on this misalignment using survey data from Hanover region.
Our results show that socio-economic factors and transport infrastructure are key contributors to misalignments between attitudes and behavior. During the pandemic, this discrepancy has widened further, especially for women and those with children.
This highlights the need for tailored policies to address the distinct mobility needs of these groups to allow them to act according to their attitudes. Moreover, our findings underscore that a sustainable mobility transition can only be achieved if we achieve a transition from individual motorized transport to public and more active modes of transport.
Link to the article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692324001492
Contact: Prof. Dr. Kerstin Nolte