A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of implementation intentions for pro-environmental behavior adoption

I. Carrero, C. Valor, R. Redondo, I. Vilá Trepat

Sustainable Production and Consumption Vol. 55, pp. 63 - 75

Summary:

Many studies have indicated the difficulties that motivated consumers encounter to effectively carry out their intentions to behave sustainably. Goal planning, such as the formulation of implementation intentions, may be effective in facilitating the performance of sustainable actions. However, because past studies have produced mixed results, we do not know under which conditions goal planning is more effective for sustainable behavior adoption. Drawing from goal planning theories, we propose a comprehensive conceptual framework to explain the plausible moderators of the effectiveness of implementation intentions. We test this framework with a random-effects meta-analysis of the existing evidence (k = 31; N = 10,466) to estimate the overall effect of implementation intentions on the adoption of sustainable behavior. The findings show that implementation intentions have an overall large effect (d = 0.781), and moderate when only experimental studies are considered (d = 0.473). Implementation intentions are more effective for sustainable behaviors that require more effort, time or money and when individuals can adapt their plans to their circumstances. The conclusions of this study are relevant for improving both future research and the application of implementation intentions to scale up sustainable behavior adoption.

Spanish layman's summary:

El estudio analiza en qué condiciones goal planning facilita los comportamientos ecológicos. Encuentra que es más eficaz con comportamientos con altas barreras y que no tienen beneficios personales. 

English layman's summary:

The study analyzes under which conditions goal planning facilitates green behavior. It shows that it is more effective for costly behaviors that do not provide self-benefits.

Keywords: Sustainable behavior; Implementation intentions; meta-analysis; Sustainability

JCR Impact Factor and WoS quartile: 10,900 - Q1 (2023)

DOI reference: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2025.02.004

Published on paper: May 2025.

Published on-line: February 2025.

Citation:
I. Carrero, C. Valor, R. Redondo, I. Vilá Trepat, A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of implementation intentions for pro-environmental behavior adoption. Sustainable Production and Consumption. Vol. 55, pp. 63 - 75, May 2025. [Online: February 2025]