Mechanism of environmental risk perception driving green production among citrus growers: A mediating effect of ecological concern and health awareness
To reveal the influence, mechanism and group differences of risk perception on farmers’ green production behaviors, this study investigates the impact, mechanism and differences of risk perception on farmers’ green production behaviors based on 1 254 survey data of citrus growers in Sichuan Province and prospect theory. The Oprobit, mediation and moderation effect models were employed for the empirical test, and the endogeneity was corrected through conditional mixed estimation. The results show that: 1) Farmers’ environmental risk perception has a significant positive impact on their green production behavior, mainly through enhancing their ecological concern and health awareness. Pro-environmental technical operation ability and green production health cognition positively regulated the two pathways, respectively. 2) An interaction exists between environmental risk perception and economic benefit perception, and the two have a significant complementary effect. 3) Young farmers have a stronger understanding of the benefits of green production, technical ability and behavior level. Environmental risk perception has a significant positive impact on the older generation of farmers, but has no significant impact on the younger generation of farmers. Therefore, this study proposes suggestions such as strengthening the publicity and education of environmental risks and green production benefits, enhancing the level of farmers’ ecological concern and health awareness through multiple channels, and differentially cultivating farmers’ technical operation and cognitive abilities, to sustainably promote agricultural green development.
LiX, LiW J. The impact of extension consistency on Farmers’ Adoption of green production technologies: A case study of testing soil formula and fertilization technology [J]. Journal of Huazhong Agricultural University: Social Sciences Edition, 2025(3): 67-76 (in Chinese)
ZhouY X, GaoR M. Impact of digital literacy on the transition to green production among protected vegetable growers[J]. Journal of Arid Land Resources and Environment, 2025, 39(5): 79-93 (in Chinese)
ChenJ P, LiuY Y, FuX H. Can cooperative social service promote farmers’ adoption of IPM technology? Empirical evidence from Sichuan [J]. Journal of China Agricultural University, 2022, 27(6): 264-277 (in Chinese)
LiJ Y, FuX H, LuoL, LiuY Y. Impact of factor marketization on agricultural green production efficiency under heterogeneous environmental regulation[J]. Chinese Journal of Eco-Agriculture, 2025, 33(5): 999-1011 (in Chinese)
YanT W, JiangW J, XiaQ L. Impact of local and cross-regional socialized services on farmers’ green production behaviors [J]. China Population Resources and Environment, 2025, 35(4): 177-189 (in Chinese)
LuoL. Research on the organizational support and function realization path of farmer’s cooperatives [J]. Xinjiang State Farms Economy, 2023(5): 61-70 (in Chinese)
ZhangX M, ZhangX. The logical mechanism and governance of social risk triggered by environmental risk perception[J]. Social Sciences in Nanjing, 2024(8): 52-62,75 (in Chinese)
WangJ H, WangY. The study of the impact mechanism of environmental risk perception on people’s pro-environmental behavior in public sphere [J]. Journal of Huazhong Agricultural University: Social Sciences Edition, 2022(6): 68-80 (in Chinese)
FanW J, CuiJ N. Influence of herdsman’s risk perceptions on pro-environmental behavior in Sanjiangyuan area: Analysis from the perspective of environmental regulation [J]. Journal of Arid Land Resources and Environment, 2023, 37(3): 48-54 (in Chinese)
LiaoP, LuoL. Impact of ecological education on agricultural and forestry college students’ willingness to protect agricultural environment [J]. Journal of Arid Land Resources and Environment, 2023, 37(12): 39-48 (in Chinese)
PengS, GuoR, YanF. The effects of environmental risk perception on college students’ Pro-environmental behavior in air pollution contexts: Based on a moderated mediation model [J]. Journal of Central South University of Forestry & Technology: Social Sciences, 2024, 18(1): 18-29 (in Chinese)
[25]
LiuY Y, ShiR L, PengY T, WangW, FuX H. Impacts of technology training provided by agricultural cooperatives on farmers’ adoption of biopesticides in China [J]. Agriculture, 2022, 12(3): 316
[26]
罗磊. 农民合作社组织支持与成员绿色生产技术采纳研究[D]. 雅安: 四川农业大学, 2024
[27]
LuoL. Research on organizational support of farmers’ cooperatives and members’ adoption of green production technology [D]. Ya’an: Sichuan Agricultural University, 2024 (in Chinese)
WangF. Contemporary theory of risk perception research: Schools, trends and controversies [J]. Journal of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics: Social Sciences Edition, 2013, 26(3): 18-24 (in Chinese)
[30]
ZhouZ F, LiuJ H, ZengH X, ZhangT, ChenX H. How does soil pollution risk perception affect farmers’ pro-environmental behavior? The role of income level [J]. Journal of Environmental Management, 2020, 270: 110806
[31]
HuQ F, GuoE S, FengF, ZhaoS Q. Green agricultural product quality supervision based on prospect theory and evolutionary game theory for logistics enterprise live streaming[J]. Scientific Reports, 2026, 16: 283
ZouZ L, CaiH B, ZhangY, GaoY M. Effects of cognitive bias on farmers’ willingness to rural residential land withdrawal: An empirical study based on 880 sample farmers in Guangdong Province [J]. China Land Science, 2023, 37(3): 59-70 (in Chinese)
[34]
KheraziF Z, SunD Y, SohuJ M, JunejoI, NaveedH M, KhanA, ShaikhS N. The role of environmental knowledge, policies and regulations toward water resource management: A mediated-moderation of attitudes, perception, and sustainable consumption patterns [J]. Sustainable Development, 2024, 32(5): 5719-5741
LiT, ChenM, WangX. Impact of livelihood capital and environmental risk perceptions on household willingness to pay for rural kitchen waste treatment[J]. Journal of Agro-Forestry Economics and Management, 2020, 19(5): 643-653 (in Chinese)
ZhengR R, ZengN, LiuT, WangL R, LiuD Y, ZhangX M, WangQ Q, ZhangX B, LiuL X. Research on the influence of environmental risk perception on tea farmers’ low-carbon production response behaviors [J]. Forestry Economics, 2024, 46(10): 20-41 (in Chinese)
[39]
AtaeiP, GholamrezaiS, MovahediR, AliabadiV. An analysis of farmers’ intention to use green pesticides: The application of the extended theory of planned behavior and health belief model [J]. Journal of Rural Studies, 2021, 81: 374-384
YangQ W, LuoL, ZuL Y. Research on Internet platform use and farmers health information seeking behavior based on SOR theoretical framework[J]. Information Exploration, 2026(7): 1-11 (in Chinese)
[44]
O’ ConnorP, AssakerG. COVID-19’s effects on future pro-environmental traveler behavior: An empirical examination using norm activation, economic sacrifices, and risk perception theories [J]. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2022, 30(1): 89-107
LuoL, YangQ W, YinX Y, SunJ Y. Risk perception, health belief and pro-environmental behavior of farmers: Based on the survey data of citrus growers in Sichuan [J]. Agriculture Economics, 2026(1): 96-111 (in Chinese)