Beyond awareness: the persuasion stage of decision-making explains urban residents’ compliance with landscape irrigation restrictions

ABSTRACT

Inadequate compliance with landscape irrigation restrictions poses a significant challenge for policymakers, environmental educators, and communicators working in urban water conservation as these policies are only effective if compliance is achieved. This study examined perceptions among Florida, USA residents to whom these policies apply using the Diffusion of Innovations Theory. Among the approximately half of these residents who were aware of these restrictions and had an opportunity to develop perceptions about them, perceptions were moderately positive with compatibility, observability, relative advantage, trialability, and complexity falling between 0.0 and 1.0 on a scale ranging from −2 to + 2. Hierarchical linear regression revealed complexity, compatibility, and relative advantage were significant predictors of intention to comply. Perceived complexity was found to be the biggest barrier to individuals’ intent to comply. Policymakers and others working in urban water conservation need to simplify both irrigation restrictions and education about them.

KEYWORDS:

• Diffusion of innovations
• formative audience research
• irrigation restrictions
• policy compliance
• water conservation

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the many University of Florida employees who provided project guidance and survey review. This was supported by the University Center for Land Use Efficiency and USDA NIFA Hatch project 1018367.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, LW, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture [1018367]; University of Florida Center for Land Use Efficiency.