The Environmental Concern-Behavior Gap in South Africa: An Income-Based Analysis

Despite widespread concern for environmental issues, a noticeable gap between concern and pro-environmental actions persists across countries and cultures. This study examines this gap in South Africa, analyzing the relationship between income and pro-environmental behavior using the ISSP 2020 Environment dataset. Linear regression results reveal that income positively correlates with concern-behavior gaps in recycling and green purchase behavior, however insignificant for the concern-public environmental activism gap. Lower-income individuals display smaller gaps; they have less environmental concern but engage more in recycling, possibly for economic survival. Conversely, higher-income individuals display greater environmental concern but have relatively low recycling, green purchase behaviors and tendencies for public environmental activism. These findings underscore the potential for policymakers to leverage the strong pro-environmental behavior habits of lower-income groups by supporting sustainable practices that offer both economic and environmental benefits while encouraging higher-income groups to adopt more active environmental practices.