Conceptualization of Farmers’ Water Conservation Intention and Behavior through the Lens of Economic Man Worldview: Application of Structural Equation Modeling

Although different worldviews have been presented to analyze the conservation behaviors of farmers, limited empirical evidence exists for the use of the economic man worldview to analyze farmers’ water conservation behaviors (WCBs). Therefore, the conceptualization of farmers’ water conservation behavioral intentions through the lens of this worldview was the primary objective of this survey. To this aim, the extended planned behavior theory (PBT), which is the main theory of the economic man worldview, was employed. The study population was 36183 Iranian farmers, 380 of whom were interviewed in-person in the form a cross-sectional survey research design. An estimation of sample size was performed via the Krejcie and Morgan Table. Moreover, the distribution of the sample size was carried out by a multi-stage random sampling method. Validity and reliability, which are undeniable features of questionnaires in social and psychological sciences, were examined using different quantitative and qualitative indices. The obtained results indicated that the effect of intention towards water conservation (IWC) on WCB was positive and significant. Therefore, this research supports the main assumption of the PBT and the economic man worldview. However, according to the results, the power of IWC’s effect on WCB is not very significant. In addition, the variance explanation of WCB as the fundamental dependent variable is not very high. It can be mentioned that the economic man worldview has a relative and moderate power to analyze the WCBs of farmers. Hence, it is suggested that some variables, including moral norms, environmental concerns, and environmental values, are used to develop and increase the explanatory power of the PBT in future studies. This study is the first study of the applicability of the economic man approach in analyzing farmers’ WCBs. It could be used to open a new research window for future and interested researchers to conduct successful interventions in the field of water conservation.