Blackwell Science, LtdOxford, UKIJCInternational Journal of Consumer Studies1470-6423Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 20052005295426436Original ArticleAn examination of

environmental knowledge among MalaysiansS.A. Haron

et al.

Towards sustainable consumption: an examination of

environmental knowledge among Malaysians
Sharifah A. Haron, Laily Paim and Nurizan Yahaya
Department of Resource Management and Consumer Studies, University of Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia

cess, increasing population and a changing lifestyle. Spe-

Abstract
cifically, the recent economic boom and rapidity of
Environmental problems are mainly attributable to the impact development have increased Malaysians’ incomes at
of humans on natural systems. In the case of Malaysia, rapid every level. So Malaysian consumers have been able to
urbanization and Malaysian consumer’ pursuit of consump- raise their consumption level by acquiring the goods
tion-oriented lifestyles have intensified the solid-waste man- and services available in the market. It seems that
agement problem faced by the government. Increasing Malaysian consumers are more interested in consump-
public environmental awareness is a potential way of tion-oriented lifestyles. Studies have suggested that eco-
addressing this. The objectives of the study described here nomic growth and increased household income in
were to assess the level of environmental knowledge among Malaysia have led to two important phenomena: an
households in Selangor in Malaysia, examine the sources of increase in the proportion of the middle class in the
their environmental knowledge, determine factors that lead overall labour force – from 24% to 37% – and an overall
to different levels of knowledge and analyse the relationship increase in consumption.1 In another study, the emer-
between knowledge and environmental attitude, behaviour gence of a new middle-class society in Asia was linked
and participation. The results of the study indicate that, in to conspicuous and unsustainable consumption
general, respondents’ basic or general environmental knowl- practices.1,2
edge was high. However, when questioned on various sci- As a result, many problems of urban life such as water
entific environmental terms, the majority of the respondents crises and solid-waste management have become more
were not familiar with most of them. Respondents indicated prominent. Solid waste relates to waste from products
that their main sources of environmental knowledge and purchased by the general public for household use, such
information were newspapers, television and radio. Lower as garbage, refuse, sludge and other discarded solid
levels of education were reflected in the level of environmen- materials.3 Solid waste is already a significant problem
tal knowledge. Participation in environmental activities had for the Malaysian government. It has been reported that
a positive influence on knowledge. The study also found that each resident in the Klang Valley area produces 1.5 kg
knowledge correlated positively with environmental atti- solid waste every day. At this rate, at least 80% of the
tudes, behaviours and participation. 230 available disposal sites will be filled up within
2 years.4
Keywords Sustainable consumption, environmental knowl- If the present rate of solid-waste production goes on
edge, consumption, consumer behaviour, Malaysia. without effective supervision and disposal methods,
there will be a substantial negative impact on the quality
of our environment. More environmentally friendly
Introduction
waste disposal options other than landfill include com-
Malaysia is currently experiencing rapid economic posting and recycling. Recycling refers to the treatment
growth, industrial development, an urbanization pro- or processing of discarded objects to make them avail-
able for use again in the original, or some other form.5
Correspondence Quite simply, recycling may be defined as finding new
Sharifah A. Haron, Department of Resource Management and Consumer
Studies, University of Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. ways of using discarded materials. It is one of the most
E-mail: sh.azizah@putra.upm.edu.my important environmentally friendly techniques for the

426 International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29, 5, September 2005, pp426–436 © 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
 S.A. Haron et al. • An examination of environmental knowledge among Malaysians
disposal of rubbish, with the important aim of promot-
ing long-term environmental protection.
As a step towards promoting sustainable consump-
tion practices among Malaysians, the Malaysian gov-
ernment (specifically in the state of Selangor) has
publicized various strategies to implement sustainable
development. This includes both production and con-
sumption practices. In addition, the government has
also opted for social advertising to educate and increase
awareness about such issues among the public. This is
consistent with Consumer International’s1 suggestions
that consumption reformation should be undertaken.
That is, consumer consumption behaviour and lifestyle
should be changed in line with sustainable consumption
concepts.
This study attempted to assess the environmental
knowledge of householders in the state of Selangor,
Malaysia and the potential this might have for changing
their behaviour. The rationale for carrying out this
project is that no legislation and no conservation pro-
gramme could be successful without public support,
however good it may be. In short, consideration for the
environment could come only from well-informed citi-
zens who are aware of, and fully committed to their
rights to a quality environment. However, before any
behaviour can be changed, it is necessary to evaluate
the current state of consumer environmental awareness
and knowledge. The objectives of this paper are to
examine the level of environmental knowledge in the
area chosen, to analyse the sources for obtaining envi-
ronmental information, to determine the factors that
contribute to different levels of environmental knowl-
edge and to examine the relationship between knowl-
edge and environmentally responsible attitudes,
participation and behaviours.
Consumption and the environment
Central to all production is consumption. It is through
consumption that individual and household well-being
can be measured, and the quality of life be improved.6
However, without proper management, production
together with consumption is the main sources of envi-
ronmental problems. This is because the by-products of
consumption are pollution and a reduction in the use-
fulness of energy materials for future consumption.7
© 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29, 5, September 2005, pp426–436
Thus, the impact of consumption on the environment
arises from individuals and households’ income and
spending patterns, the value placed on different natural
attributes through these consumption habits and forces
affecting individual preferences.7 So understanding what
determines consumer behaviour provides a useful start-
ing point for identifying the causes of existing consump-
tion patterns and making recommendations as to how
this pattern can be changed to become more sustainable.
According to Robin and Robert’s definition,2 sustain-
able consumption is a strategy which focuses on new
ways of managing the demand side of the economy, not
only focusing on economic benefits, but also emphasis-
ing environmental and social well-being. However, it is
not something that can be imposed upon the public.
Rather, it requires informed choices by households and
parties involved in favour of sustainable goods and ser-
vices.2 It thus requires the acquisition of knowledge
about both sustainability and the impact of consump-
tion choices and values that can generate the desire to
act upon such information.
Environmental knowledge and sustainable
consumption behaviour
Environmentally responsible consumer behaviour
relates to consumption activities that benefit, or cause
less harm to the environment than substitutable activi-
ties.8,9 Hence, consistent with the focus of sustainable
consumption, which is concerned with the economic
activity of choosing, using and disposing goods and ser-
vices and how this can be changed to bring social and
environmental benefits,2 consumers can behave in a
more environmentally friendly way by changing the pat-
terns they use to acquire, utilize and dispose of goods
or products.
Past research on environmentally conscious behav-
iour has examined various factors that influence such
behaviour, such as environmental knowledge, or one’s
ability to understand and evaluate the impact of society
on the ecosystem. According to Kaplan,10 the state of
one’s knowledge about an issue impacts significantly
upon decision making. Specifically, people dislike, and
thus tend to avoid situations where they have insuffi-
cient knowledge to guide their behaviour and where the
possibility of confusion is great.11 This explains why
427
An examination of environmental knowledge among Malaysians • S.A. Haron et al.
some people may choose not to adopt sustainable con-
sumption practices such as involvement in recycling
activities because they feel that they do not know
enough about recycling.
The importance of knowledge and the impact of lack
of knowledge in the decision-making process have been
demonstrated in numerous studies. For example, envi-
ronmental awareness and behaviours were found to be
influenced by values, attitudes and knowledge.12 In a
study of recyclers and non-recyclers, it was concluded
that the attitudes or motives of the two groups were not
that different, but there was a significant difference in
their operational knowledge.13 Thus, confusion about
the process of recycling was associated with non-
recycling behaviour. In addition, many studies have
shown that knowledge generally influences pro-
environmental attitudes, which in turn motivate eco-
logically or environmentally responsible consumer
behaviour.14 Similarly, several studies also concluded
that information and knowledge about recycling were
both significant predictors of recycling behaviour.5,15
However, Barkmann and Bögeholz16 cautioned that,
although environmental knowledge is a necessary pre-
condition for environmental action, the extent of its
influence can be questionable because first, some daily
environmentally supportive actions such as saving
energy or reducing waste in the households can be car-
ried out as a matter of habit, which does not require
environmental knowledge. Second, the environmental
knowledge measured may not be relevant to the envi-
ronmental action sampled. Specifically, Bögeholz (as
reported by Barkmann and Bögeholz16) found that
knowledge about species and ecological concepts has no
effect on daily environmental actions, while action-
specific or skill-related knowledge, such as knowing how
to recycle in examining recycling behaviour, has only a
small effect. This is consistent with a finding that con-
servation behaviour was most strongly predicted by
conservation knowledge.17
Unfortunately, in the case of Malaysia, awareness of
the importance of separating household solid waste and
involvement in recycling programmes is still very low.15
Examining in detail the factors that influence knowl-
edge of scientific and environment facts, Gendall et al.18
found that demographic factors influenced the level of
environmental knowledge in six European centres. Spe-
428 International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29, 5, September 2005, pp426–436
cifically, men tended to have more knowledge than
women; younger people tended to be more knowledge-
able than older people; and the higher the level of edu-
cation, the higher the level of knowledge.
Similarly, Othman et al.19 who studied Malaysian
teenagers’ environmental attitudes and knowledge
found influences of gender and ethnicity. Specifically,
teenage girls tended to display stronger emotional feel-
ing towards environmental issues, although their com-
mitment was no better than boys. Also, Chinese
teenagers were found to be more knowledgeable about
environmental issues compared with Malays and Indi-
ans. However, they concluded that generally the overall
level of knowledge of Malaysian teenagers is low, espe-
cially among those studying in the arts stream compared
with those studying in the sciences stream.
Methodology
The data and data collection
The study was carried out in the state of Selangor, which
is the most developed and urbanized state in Malaysia.
The state of Selangor consists of eight districts. One
district or county was chosen at random to represent
urban, and another one rural areas on the basis of the
classification of urban and rural areas by the Depart-
ment of Statistics. Meru was selected from the list of
urbanized districts. A similar method was adopted to
select Kuala Langat to represent rural districts. The
town of Klang was picked to represent urban areas. Two
rural areas in the district of Kuala Langat, namely, Telok
Panglima Garang and Morib, were selected at random
to represent rural areas – two were necessary because
of low population density in rural areas.
A similar process of random sampling was carried out
for the second stage to select villages and housing areas
in the areas chosen. Based on information on the ethnic
composition of the areas from the Municipal Council of
Kuala Langat and Klang, respondents of different races
were selected which reflected the ethnic proportion in
Malaysia. Thus, 50% of the respondents selected were
Bumiputra, 30% were Chinese and 20% were Indian.
Respondents from each ethnic group were selected by
residence blocks and streets. The subjects of the study
were aged over 18 and were residents of the community
© 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
 S.A. Haron et al. • An examination of environmental knowledge among Malaysians
in the relevant district. Based on this systematic random
sampling, a total of 250 respondents and 500 respon-
dents were selected to represent rural and urban areas
respectively. However, only 734 questionnaires were
returned which contained the complete necessary infor-
mation and were thus usable.
Respondents were either interviewed or filled in the
same questionnaires. The questionnaires covered
respondents’ socio-demographic and economic back-
ground, their attitudes about, and knowledge of the
environment, and self-reported environmentally
responsible consumption practices
Variable definitions – the question areas
Environmental knowledge can be demonstrated
through one’s ability to recognize environmental prob-
lems, the causes and consequences of such problems,
including facts and concepts necessary for explanation.19
In parallel with this, respondents’ environmental knowl-
edge was examined using both open and closed
questions.
Respondents were tested on their general knowledge
of the environment, such as the main causes of air pol-
lution in Malaysia and the need to maintain environ-
mental balance. Questions testing the respondents’
environmental knowledge were based on three options
following those statements, namely, ‘true’, ‘false’ or ‘do
not know’. The measurement of the respondents’
knowledge scale was based on the total of right, wrong
and don’t know answers. In addition, respondents were
also asked to list environmental issues and concerns in
Malaysia, items that can be recycled and were tested on
various concepts related to the environment such as the
greenhouse effect and biodegradability.
The independent variables in this study are residential
location (urban vs. rural), ethnicity (Bumiputra,a Chi-
nese and Indian), gender, housing ownership (housing
owned vs. rented), marital status (single vs. married),
educational level, household income, age, household
size, environmental attitude, behaviours and involve-
ment. For marital status, respondents were grouped as
a
Bumiputra which means the son or native of the soil refers to the Malays
and various indigenous peoples in both Peninsular Malaysia and East
Malaysia.
© 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
single if they were never married, widowed or divorced.
The household income (RM)b refers to the total of the
household’s market earnings and unearned income.
The independent variables were measured using two
different types of scale: ordinal and nominal. The ordi-
nal scales were four-point Likert scales. These indicate
the weighting assigned by individuals to a set of state-
ments about their attitudes, from strong agreement to
strong disagreement. Attitudinal variables included the
following: general pro-ecological attitudes, personal
motives of frugality and participation in community
programmes, belief in the effectiveness of recycling,
support of government regulations to protect the envi-
ronment. Examples of the questions in this section
included are: Should the clearing of forests be limited
despite its being economically profitable? Should the
government enforce the recycling law? Should serious
penalties be imposed on those who dispose of waste in
improper places? Are you willing to pay a higher price
for environmentally friendly goods?
The environmentally responsible consumption prac-
tices or behaviours were adopted from the definition of
the same concept by Ebreo.8 Variables used in this study
to measure such behaviours were the respondent’s
frequency scale (always, often, sometimes, never) on
the following aspects: consideration for specific pro-
duct characteristics which are environmentally friendly
before purchase (e.g. energy saving; recyclable) and
respondent’s practices related to recycling and conser-
vation. A score range from 0 to 3 was assigned for each
level of frequency. This was 0 if the respondent never
carried out any of the listed behaviours, up to 3 if they
always undertook such practices. As for the respon-
dents’ involvements in environmentally related activi-
ties, these were measured at the household and
community level.
The reliability test of scales
Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to determine the
internal consistency reliability of each scale used in this
study. Table 1 summarizes the alpha value for each
scale. The environmental knowledge and environmental
participation scales have low alpha values. It could be
b
The currency exchange rate is, USD 100.00 ª RM 380.00.
International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29, 5, September 2005, pp426–436 429
An examination of environmental knowledge among Malaysians • S.A. Haron et al.

that items used in these scales were selected from local
experiences based on Western literature. However, var-
ious adaptations have been carried out to suit local
experience and culture. These scales could be improved
in future research.
Data analyses
Descriptive analysis was utilized in most parts of the
analysis. However, multiple regressions were also used
to analyse factors influencing respondents’ environmen-
tal knowledge. The Stepwise Multiple Regression
Table 1 Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the scales
Scales No. of items
procedure was used. The variation in respondent’s envi-
ronmental knowledge (KNOW) can be explained by an
array of independent predictor variables. The equation
for the empirical model is as follows:
KNOW = f {Residential location, ethnicity, gender,
housing ownership, marital status, household income,
educational level, age of respondents, participation in
environmental activities}
Pearson’s correlations was used to test the relation-
ship between respondents’ environmental knowledge
and environmentally responsible behaviour, attitude
and participation.
Results
Alpha value

Environmental knowledge 14 0.49

Sample characteristics
Environmental attitude 11 0.60
The majority (51%) of the respondents are Bumiputras,
Environmentally responsible behaviour 22 0.80
Environmental participation 5 0.57
with an almost equal percentage of gender and residen-
tial locations (Table 2). The sample’s average age was

Table 2 Sample characteristics

Variables Frequency (%) (n = 734)

Ethnicity
Bumiputra 375 (51.1)
Chinese 155 (21.1)
Indian 204 (27.8)
Gender
Male 355 (48.4)
Female 379 (51.6)
Residential location
Urban 416 (56.7)
Rural 318 (43.3)
Housing ownership status
Owner 495 (67.4)
Renter 239 (32.6)
Marital status
Single 124 (16.9)
Married 608 (82.8)
Household income (RM) 1730.11 (mean) (1455.00 standard deviation)
Educational level
No formal education 17 (2.3)
Primary through lower secondary education 283 (38.6)
Upper secondary education 384 (52.3)
Tertiary education 50 (6.8)
Age of the respondents 37.23 (mean) (10.87 standard deviation)
Household size 5.04 (mean) (1.68 standard deviation)

430 International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29, 5, September 2005, pp426–436 © 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
 S.A. Haron et al. • An examination of environmental knowledge among Malaysians

37 with a standard deviation of 10.87 years. A large
percentage of the samples are married (83%) with an
average household size of 5 persons. The majority of the
respondents (67%) were house owners. A high percent-
age of house owners as compared with renters is an
accurate reflection of society in these areas, as most of
the rural people own their houses. In addition, the fact
that Klang and Kuala Langat are located further away
from the metropolitan Kuala Lumpur and the housing
areas selected mostly consist of medium-cost housing,
make it possible for the majority of the respondents to
own their houses.
The average monthly income of the household was
RM 1730.11, which is lower than the national average
income of RM 2472.20 So the sample may be described
as in the lower-income group. Their lower average
monthly income is consistent with their highest educa-
tional attainment, most (93%) were educated up to
upper secondary level.
Basic environmental knowledge scale
Table 3 summarizes the number of respondents who
answered each item in the knowledge scale correctly.
The knowledge scale represents basic and general
knowledge related to the environment. The results show
that, in general, a high percentage of respondents
answered correctly for almost all statements. From a
total of 14 questions, 5 questions received more than
90% correct answers.
On two questions, however, less than 50% of the
respondents answered correctly. Specifically, when
asked if the natural environment should be sacrificed
for development, only 47.8% said No. It is unfortunate
that the respondents in this study think that economic
development is all-important, and that it is alright to
sacrifice nature along the way. However, as this miscon-
ception reflects poor environmental knowledge, rele-
vant parties should consider what might be done about
this. It is no longer acceptable to argue that the more
goods and services we produce, the higher the quality
of life will be. The challenge for the new millennium is
to develop a balanced development that has minimal
socio-ecological impact without compromising the qual-
ity of life.2
The respondents also did less well on questions
about encouraging the usage of disposable goods
because of their convenience. Only 31.2% of the
respondents answered correctly. This answer reflects
the widespread practices of a ‘convenience culture’
among Malaysians, with practices such as using dispos-
able diapers/nappies and disposable eating utensils
such as polystyrene take-away boxes and paper/plastic
plates in daily activities. Beside general environmental

Table 3 Frequency of correct answers in the environmental knowledge scale

Correct answer

Items of knowledge scale Frequency Percentage

All living things play an important role in maintaining balance in the ecology 703 95.8
Natural resources should be conserved for future generations 577 78.6
The condition of our environment can affect our health 689 93.9
Destruction of forests will cause biological imbalances 389 53.0
There is abundance of natural resources that can never be depleted 565 77.0
The main cause of air pollution in Malaysia is fumes from vehicles 500 68.1
Most rivers in Malaysia are polluted 671 91.4
Our country is faced with serious solid waste (garbage) and landfill problems 708 96.5
Alternative energy, e.g. solar energy can be utilized in place of electricity 699 95.2
The natural environment should be sacrificed in the name of development 351 47.8
Usage of disposable goods should be encouraged as it provides convenience to consumers 229 31.2
Unleaded petrol is better than leaded petrol as it is less harmful to the environment 513 69.9
Using public transport can help alleviate air pollution 530 72.2
Vehicles improperly maintained will cause pollution 519 70.7

© 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29, 5, September 2005, pp426–436 431
An examination of environmental knowledge among Malaysians • S.A. Haron et al.

Table 4 Environmental problems in Malaysia

First issue Second issue

Issues and concerns Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage

Atmospheric pollution
From vehicle fumes 288 39.2 95 12.9
From toxic fumes 138 18.8 299 4.0
Haze episodes due to forest fire and open burning 103 14.0 66 9.0
47 6.4 – –
Industrial and solid waste 166 22.6 49 6.7
Water pollution 96 13.1 6 0.82
Noise pollution 32 4.4 3 0.4
Natural disaster due to some environmental problems 14 1.9 4 0.5
Deforestation 5 0.68 2 0.27
Erosion of land/landslide 9 1.23 2 0.27
Total 596 81.2 157 21.4

knowledge, respondents’ knowledge in the following
areas were also analysed.
Knowledge of environmental problems in Malaysia
Environmental problems in Malaysia are caused by bio-
logical reactions resulting from human activities and are
also related to the depletion of natural assets and
resources.21 In order to test the respondents’ knowledge
on this particular aspect, they were asked to note down
two environmental problems currently faced by
Malaysia.
Eighty-one per cent of the respondents provided at
least one correct example of an environmental issue of
concern in Malaysia, while a little over 20% listed two
issues or concerns correctly (Table 4). Interestingly, the
respondents also gave exactly the same ranking to such
problems based on their level of seriousness.
The respondents ranked the following as the main
environmental issues in Malaysia: atmospheric pollu-
tion from various sources (39%), industrial and solid
waste (about 23%) and water pollution (13%). This
is consistent with findings of previous studies that
Selangor is one of the 13 states in Malaysia facing seri-
ous problems with atmospheric pollution, water crisis
and solid-waste management due to rapid urbanization
and increasing concentration of populations in urban
areas.4,15,21 Thus, the respondents’ ability to identify
these issues specifically is perhaps a reflection of their
own daily life experience related to the issues, because
two-thirds of the respondents live in urban areas which
are affected by such problems.
With regard to atmospheric pollution, the respondent
also correctly identified and ranked three major sources
of such pollution. This is consistent with Hasan’s sugges-
tions that 70% of air pollution in urban areas during the
non-haze period was contributed by emission from vehi-
cles, while during hazec episodes, forest fires and open
burning were identified as major causes. Unfortunately,
despite their knowledge about three major causes of air
pollution, Malaysia generally has a high ownership rate
of automobiles (67%) which could make the problem
worse.1
Ranking solid waste as the second most important
environment issues in Malaysia is a valid concern. This
is because, according to Hasan,21 only 70% of the total
amount of solid waste generated was collected. The rest
might end up in illegal dumping sites including rivers.
Thus, the respondents’ concerns about solid waste may
c
Haze is an atmospheric phenomenon where dust, smoke and other pollut-
ant particles obscure the normal clarity of the sky. It occurs when dust and
smoke particles accumulate in relatively dry air. When weather conditions
block the dispersal of smoke and other pollutants they concentrate and form
a usually low-hanging shroud that impairs visibility and may become a
respiratory health threat. Dense haze is also known as smog (source: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haze).

432 International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29, 5, September 2005, pp426–436 © 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
 S.A. Haron et al. • An examination of environmental knowledge among Malaysians

be used by the authorities to help them to think about
solutions.
Despite the small percentage, it is also worth noting
that noise pollution was listed by 4.4% of the respon-
dents. This may be because of the increasing number of
motor vehicles in urban areas such as in Selangor, which
has contributed to noise pollution. This is consistent
with Hasan’s21 findings that Klang and metropolitan
Kuala Lumpur were listed as having the highest traffic
level noise among urban areas in 1992 and 1998. In
addition, Hasan also reported that neighbourhoods and
communities foresaw noise pollution as a potential
problem.
It is interesting to note that almost all environmental
problems that respondents listed are attributable to the
impact of humans on the natural system. None of the
respondents expressed their concern for the depletion
of natural resources specifically, even though the major-
ity of the respondents gave the correct answer that nat-
ural resources are scarce and that they should be
conserved for future generations.
implies that the respondents’ knowledge about recycla-
ble items was reasonably high. Perhaps this indicates
that the rigorous effort by the government to increase
public awareness about recycling through social adver-
tising in the mass media recently has been effective.
Quite a large percentage of respondents quoted the
following as examples of recyclables: paper and old
newspapers (33%), bottles (23.5%) and aluminium cans
(23%).
Knowledge about environment-related concepts
To test respondents’ more advanced knowledge about
the environment, questions about concepts and scien-
tific terms were included (Table 6). Not surprisingly
(considering their educational level) there were fewer
‘correct’ answers.
Table 5 Examples of recyclable items
Examples Frequency Percentage

Knowledge about recyclable items Papers and old newspapers 240 33

Bottles 172 24
Respondents were tested on their recycling knowledge Aluminium cans 166 23
by noting down two recyclable items (Table 5). A rea- Plastics 69 9
sonably high percentage of respondents (80%) identi- Glass 39 5
fied two such items correctly. In a related study, it was Metal scraps 34 4.6
Old batteries (car) 6 0.8
reported that approximately 80–90% of respondents in
Corrugated papers and boxes 3 0.4
their study knew what items were recyclable.15 This

Table 6 List of environmental terms and concepts

Knew about it Didn’t know about it

Terms and concepts Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage

Greenhouse effect 269 36.6 465 63.4

Recycling 580 79 154 21
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) 119 16.2 615 83.8
Biodegradable 132 18 602 82
Organic/non-organic 90 2.3 644 87.7
Environmentally friendly products 203 27.7 531 72.3
Acid rain 157 21.4 577 78.6
Ozone layer 200 27.2 534 72.8
Carbon monoxide 191 26 543 74
Genetically modified food 118 16.1 614 83.7

© 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29, 5, September 2005, pp426–436 433
An examination of environmental knowledge among Malaysians • S.A. Haron et al.

Other than for recycling, where 79% of the respon-
dents stated that they understood the concept, the
majority (60 to almost 90%) of the respondents admit-
ted that they knew nothing about the environmental
concepts listed in this study. In fact, some of what might
be assumed to be relatively well known concepts such
as carbon monoxide and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
were considered unfamiliar. One possible explanation
for this is that the level education of the sample in this
study was mostly up to upper secondary education only.
Thus, even though they could identify that the main
cause of air pollution in Malaysia is vehicle fumes, they
might not know that vehicle fumes produce carbon
monoxide.
Sources of environmental knowledge
Table 7 summarizes sources of environmental informa-
tion listed by the respondents. Most of them indicated
that their main source of environmental information
was newspapers (89%), followed by television (87%)
and radio (86%).
Factors influencing consumer environmental knowledge
Twelve variables were included in the first-stage models:
residential location (URBAN), ethnicity (BUMI and
INDIAN), gender (MALE), housing tenure
(OWNER), marital status (MARRIED), household
income, educational level [that is, no formal education
(NOSCH), primary through lower secondary education
(LESSHS) and tertiary education (COLLEGE)], age of
respondents and, participation in environmental activi-
ties (PTCIPATE).
However, based on the stepwise selection method,
the best model for the multiple regressions which
emerged contains only three variables: participation in
the environmental activities and two variables repre-
senting educational level. The effect of the remaining
variables was not significant (Table 8). Specifically the
developed model was as follows:
KNOW = 5.124 - 0.396 LESSHS + 0.80 PTCIPATE
- 1.033 NOSCH
Together, the three variables account for only 4.15%
of the variance in respondents’ environmental knowl-
edge levels. The result indicates that level of environ-
mental knowledge reduces for 0.396 points for
respondents with less-than-high-school education
compared with the high school graduates, when other
variables are held constant. In other words, less-
than-high-school-educated respondents possess lower
environmental knowledge compared with high-
school-educated respondents. Another variable on edu-
cational level (no formal schooling) produces the same
effect on respondent’s environmental knowledge. How-
ever, its negative impact on the level of knowledge is
much greater than the variable less-than-high-school
graduate.
Additional participation in environmental activities
by the respondents increased their level of environmen-
tal knowledge by 0.80 points, when other variables are

Table 7 Sources of environmental knowledge

Table 8 Direct predictors of environmental knowledge
Source Frequency Percentage (multiple regressions)

Radio 633 86.2 Variables Beta t-value Significant level

Television 640 87.2
Newspapers 659 89.8 Male 0.037 1.029 0.304
Magazine 123 16.8 Urban -0.11 -0.304 0.761
Personal sources (e.g. from friends 57 7.8 Owner 0.025 0.683 0.495
and relatives) Age -0.33 -0.806 0.420
Internet 46 6.3 Household income -0.018 -0.472 0.637
Books 45 6.1 Married -0.043 -1.19 0.239
Formal sources (e.g. seminars, 44 College educated 0.029 0.780 0.436
workshop, etc.) Bumiputera 0.012 0.312 0.756
CD/VCD/Video tapes 5 7.8 Indian -0.041 -1.114 0.266

434 International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29, 5, September 2005, pp426–436 © 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
 S.A. Haron et al. • An examination of environmental knowledge among Malaysians
held constant. Thus, participation in any environmental
activities can be seen as a way of learning about the
environment. This interaction may well be a two-way
relationship. Specifically, on the one hand, participation
in environmental activities provides a way of learning
about the environment. On the other hand, it is also
possible that those who already have environmental
knowledge participate in such activities. In this study,
however, it was not possible to determine the exact
direction of such relationships.
Table 8 summarizes other independent variables that
were not found to be statistically significant in influenc-
ing respondents’ environmental knowledge. One possi-
ble reason why only two variables were significant was
that knowledge is an abstract concept and while differ-
ent levels of environmental knowledge may be influ-
enced by factors other than socio-demographic
backgrounds, these may have an indirect effect.
Environmental knowledge and attitudes, behaviours
and participation
Pearson’s correlation was used to test the relationship
between environmental knowledge and scales relating
to attitudes, behaviours and participation. Correlation
analysis indicates that environmental knowledge was
significant and correlated positively with each of these
scales (Table 9). So the more environmentally knowl-
edgeable respondents tended to have more positive
environmental attitudes, which in turn increased their
environmental behaviour and participation.
Although the magnitude of correlation between
knowledge and each of the scales was low, it does indi-
cate that knowledge is an important element in encour-
aging the right environmental attitudes and values, in
increasing environmentally responsible consumption
behaviour and encouraging more environmental partic-
ipation from the public. So there is a need for more
Table 9 Correlation analysis
Attitudes Behaviour
Knowledge 0.241a 0.298a
a
Significant at 0.01 level.
© 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
rigorous campaigns on environmental education to
encourage sustainable consumption.
Conclusions
This study attempted to assess the environmental
knowledge of householders in the state of Selangor,
Malaysia. Generally, respondents performed well on
basic or general environmental knowledge. However,
when asked about various scientific environmental
terms, the majority of the respondents did not perform
well. This indicates that respondents possessed only a
low level of complex environmental knowledge, which
may not encourage them to be more actively involved
in environmental activities. This could deter, or slow
down government efforts to encourage sustainable con-
sumption behaviour among Malaysians.
The impact of knowledge on environmental partici-
pation and environmentally responsible behaviour is
further borne out by the results of the multiple regres-
sions and correlation analyses. Specifically, the study
found that knowledge does correlate positively with
environmental attitudes, behaviours and participation.
Thus, if public environmental knowledge is improved,
there is a good chance that public sustainable consump-
tion behaviour will be increased.
The outcomes of this survey provide evidence for the
view that both government and non-government orga-
nizations (NGOs) should formulate and promulgate
educational and user-friendly strategies to sensitize pub-
lic environmental consciousness, convey environmental
knowledge and, impress upon the public the importance
of environmentally friendly values. Basic environmental
knowledge is probably not sufficient to achieve these
aims: technical ‘know-how’ and skill-related information
will also be necessary. It will also be crucial to inform
consumers about choices of goods, transportation and
leisure patterns that support environmental sustainabil-
ity. In addition, the implementation of public education
strategies and methods should be tailored to the target
audiences to ensure its effectiveness. Thus, for certain
target groups, sponsorship of community information
Participation sessions by the local, state and/or federal government
agencies may be the best strategy.
0.121a
In short, consumer education is undeniably crucial to
establish sustainable quality of life. In addition to
International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29, 5, September 2005, pp426–436 435
An examination of environmental knowledge among Malaysians • S.A. Haron et al.
encouraging public voluntary actions through educa-
tion, the government should also discourage unsustain-
able behaviour by way of law and regulations, or
through enforced choice. A combination of this kind
could speed up the internalization of sustainable life-
style among Malaysians.
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