Connecting Intention to Use Online Banking, Commitment to Environmental Sustainability, and Happiness: The Role of Nature Relatedness

Abstract In today’s advanced technology, the environment continues to degrade in the constant pursuit of consumer happiness. To promote green banking in such situation, this study experimentally examines the role of nature-relatedness in connecting the intention to use online banking with the commitment to environmental sustainability and happiness. This study has manipulated nature relatedness into two levels, i.e., nature-related and nature-separated, and randomly assigned this to the participants. The results show that the manipulation was successful, as the participants who read the description about nature relatedness perceived that they are more nature-related than those reading nature-separated. Furthermore, the results show nature relatedness influences the intention to use online banking as well as the commitment to environmental sustainability and happiness. These findings suggest that nature relatedness is important for connecting technology and sustainability as well as happiness.

[1]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[2]  Gary King,et al.  'Truth' is Stranger than Prediction, More Questionable than Causal Inference , 1991 .

[3]  R. Bagozzi,et al.  On the nature and direction of relationships between constructs and measures. , 2000, Psychological methods.

[4]  S. Kamvar,et al.  How Happiness Affects Choice , 2011 .

[5]  Matthew C. H. Yeung,et al.  Insights into customer motivations for switching to Internet banking , 2003 .

[6]  Karen Buro,et al.  Nature connectedness: Associations with well-being and mindfulness , 2011 .

[7]  Stephen Kaplan,et al.  The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework , 1995 .

[8]  L. Berkowitz,et al.  External validity is more than skin deep: Some answers to criticisms of laboratory experiments. , 1982 .

[9]  John M. Zelenski,et al.  The NR-6: a new brief measure of nature relatedness , 2013, Front. Psychol..

[10]  I. Alcock,et al.  Measuring Commitment to Environmental Sustainability: The Development of a Valid and Reliable Measure , 2012 .

[11]  P. Peeters,et al.  Happiness and limits to sustainable tourism mobility: a new conceptual model , 2013 .

[12]  John M. Zelenski,et al.  Happiness and Feeling Connected , 2014 .

[13]  Krystelle Shaughnessy,et al.  Social anxiety in the digital age: The measurement and sequelae of online safety-seeking , 2019, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[14]  J. Sheth Are there Differences in Dissonance Reduction Behavior between Students and Housewives? , 1970 .

[15]  Duncan David Nulty,et al.  The adequacy of response rates to online and paper surveys: what can be done? , 2008 .

[16]  Steven A. Murphy,et al.  Happiness is in our Nature: Exploring Nature Relatedness as a Contributor to Subjective Well-Being , 2011 .

[17]  L. Pelletier,et al.  Is Nature Relatedness a Basic Human Psychological Need? A Critical Examination of the Extant Literature , 2019, Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne.

[18]  Jennifer J. Tabanico,et al.  Implicit connections with nature , 2004 .

[19]  E. V. Steenburg,et al.  Me first, then the environment: young Millennials as green consumers , 2018, Young Consumers.

[20]  R. Likert “Technique for the Measurement of Attitudes, A” , 2022, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[21]  Marko Sarstedt,et al.  PLS-SEM: Indeed a Silver Bullet , 2011 .

[22]  Steven A. Murphy,et al.  The Nature Relatedness Scale , 2009 .

[23]  C. Osgood The nature and measurement of meaning. , 1952, Psychological bulletin.

[24]  John M. Zelenski,et al.  The relationship between nature connectedness and happiness: a meta-analysis , 2014, Front. Psychol..

[25]  T. Szopiński,et al.  Factors affecting the adoption of online banking in Poland , 2016 .

[26]  Dimitrios Chatzoudes,et al.  An examination of the critical factors affecting consumer acceptance of online banking: A focus on the dimensions of risk , 2013, J. Syst. Inf. Technol..

[27]  John M. Zelenski,et al.  Underestimating Nearby Nature , 2011, Psychological science.

[28]  K. Gaston,et al.  Is Nature Relatedness Associated with Better Mental and Physical Health? , 2018, International journal of environmental research and public health.

[29]  C. Ok,et al.  Generalizing Survey Results from Student Samples: Implications from Service Recovery Research , 2008 .

[30]  C. O'brien Happiness and Sustainability Together at Last! Sustainable Happiness , 2013 .

[31]  Victor Corral-Verdugo,et al.  Happiness as Correlate of Sustainable Behavior: A Study of Pro-Ecological, Frugal, Equitable and Altruistic Actions That Promote Subjective Wellbeing , 2011 .

[32]  C. Chiu,et al.  Challenges and factors influencing initial trust and behavioral intention to use mobile banking services in the Philippines , 2017 .

[33]  Heikki Karjaluoto,et al.  Consumer acceptance of online banking: an extension of the technology acceptance model , 2004, Internet Res..

[34]  P. Peeters,et al.  Travelling ‘green’: is tourists' happiness at stake? , 2010 .

[35]  George H. Polychronopoulos,et al.  An extension of TAM model with IDT and security/privacy risk in the adoption of internet banking services in Greece , 2012 .