Impacts of behavioural factors on the household water consumption in urban areas

Abstract

Gaps in understanding what influences household water consumption has led water providers failing to convince their customers to report sustainable practices. To this end, the present study aimed to answer the question, “How do social and cultural factors influence water consumption in urban areas”? The response to this issue has been identified through an investigation that involved a group of selected socio-cultural factors, whose analysis was based on collected survey data from participants in Lagos-Nigeria, Salvador-Brazil, Sao Paulo-Brazil, London-UK and Los Angeles-USA. The Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behaviour (COM-B) model was used as a data analysis framework to identify influences. The investigation revealed that Motivation is the most reported driver of water consumption. In a scale from 0 (lowest) to 5 (highest), this component presented the most significant scores in Lagos (3.93), Salvador (4.13), Sao Paulo (3.88), London (4.13) and Los Angeles (3.59). The Capability dimension had the second-highest weight in Lagos, Salvador, Sao Paulo, and Los Angeles, with scores of 2.80, 3.60, 3.60 and 3.20, respectively. Participants from London have Opportunity (score= 2.88) as the second influential pillar in water consumption. These findings are aimed at helping to best drive water saving practices by gaining insight into factors underpinning water consumption in a structured manner.