Abstract

Policy makers draw on behavioral research to design interventions that promote the
voluntary adoption of environmental behavior in societies. Many environmental behaviors
will only be effective if they are maintained over the long-term. In the context of climate
change and concerns about future water security, behaviors that involve reducing energy
consumption and improving water qualitymust be continued indefinitely tomitigate global
warming and preserve scarce resources. Previous reviews of environmental behavior
have focused exclusively on factors related to adoption. This review investigates the
factors that influence both adoption and maintenance, and presents a classification
of environmental behaviors in terms of the activities, costs, and effort required for
both adoption and maintenance. Three categories of behavior are suggested. One-off
behaviors involve performing an activity once, such as purchasing an energy efficient
washing machine, or signing a petition. Continuous behaviors involve the performance of
the same set of behaviors for adoption and for maintenance, such as curbside recycling.
Dynamic behaviors involve the performance of different behaviors for adoption and
maintenance, such as revegetation. Behaviors can also be classified into four categories
related to cost and effort: those that involve little cost and effort for adoption and
maintenance, those that involve moderate cost and effort for adoption and maintenance,
those that involve a high cost or effort for adoption and less for maintenance, and those
that involve less cost or effort for adoption and a higher amount for maintenance. In order
to design interventions that last, policy makers should consider the factors that influence
the maintenance as well as the adoption of environmental behaviors.