Experiential Factors as a Determinant for Climate Change Mitigation Behavior: A Case of Tourist Hotel Managers in Naivasha Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

Climate change is typically abstract, large scale, slow and often unrelated to the welfare of people’s usual activities. There are however moments when the consequences of climate change are readily apparent, such as through experiencing extreme weather events. This study examined the association between personal experiences with extreme weather events together with emotions and taking actions that mitigate the consequences of climate change, a largely under researched topic. This relationship was tested among 182 randomly selected tourist hotel managers in Naivasha Sub-County in Kenya using paper and pencil survey techniques. An instrument made up of questions on the managers’ extent of their personal involvement with extreme climate risks and events was utilized. Another set of questions that rated the managers’ level of emotions towards climate change was also included. The study identified two categories of climate change mitigation behaviors (CCMB) using principle component analysis that are adopted by managers namely efficiency and curtailment practices. A beta regression model that accounts for the non-normality of the data was used to examine the relationship between experiential factors and CCMB. Findings indicate a moderate engagement in CCMB among the surveyed managers. Experiencing disasters was negatively and significantly associated with both curtailment and efficiency CCMB. Emotions were positively associated with efficiency CCMB but had a negative association with curtailment CCMB. The findings suggest that public education would benefit from strategies that focus on connecting experiencing weather related disasters and emotions with the reality of climate change.