Factors Influencing Coconut Growers’ Decision-Making Process in Fertilizer Application through the Lens of Theory of Planned Behavior and Self-Determination Theory
Abstract
The small-scale, poor, rural coconut growers in Sri Lanka are generally characterized by low productivity. The low yield of coconuts is primarily attributed to the improper application of fertilizers. The decision to apply fertilizer is mainly depends on the growers’ change in behaviour, in turn, influenced by the growers’ salient beliefs. Assessing the beliefs plays a significant role in understanding why farmers behave differently in making decisions regarding fertilizer application. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and Theory of Self Determination (TSD) were employed to find a more realistic solution to the above research problem. Hence, the current research was carried out to observe the relationship between the beliefs of the coconut growers and their behaviour with respect to fertilizer application in coconut fields. Results of the study reveal that perceived behavioural control was the highest contributor to developing the intention followed by the attitude. Further, there is no influence from the social pressure for the intention development. Moreover, intrinsic motivation predicts the fertilizer application behaviour from intention in stronger strength than that of extrinsic motivation. Therefore, it can be concluded that motivation influences the intention-behavioural relationship. Consequently, it gives evidence for policymakers to introduce policy guidelines in order to enhance the use of fertilizer efficiently and effectively. And, motivation does have a moderating effect on coconut growers’ fertilizer application behaviour.
References
Ajzen, I. (1991). The Theory of Planned Behaviour. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211.
Ajzen, I. (2002a). Behavioural Interventions Based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Research Policy, 2011, 1–6.
Ajzen, I. (2002b). Perceived Behavioral Control, Self‐Efficacy, Locus of Control, and the Theory of Planned Behavior 1. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32(4), 665–683.
Ajzen, I. (2012). The theory of planned behaviour. In Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology: Volume 1 (pp. 438–459).
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behaviour. Pren-Tice Hall.
Arunrat, N., Wang, C., Pumijumnong, N., Sereenonchai, S., & Cai, W. (2017). Farmers’ intention and decision to adapt to climate change: A case study in the Yom and Nan basins, Phichit province of Thailand. Journal of Cleaner Production, 143, 672–685.
Beedell, J., & Rehman, T. (2000). Using social-psychology models to understand farmers’ conservation behaviour. Journal of Rural Studies, 16(1), 117–127.
Bondori, A., Bagheri, A., Sookhtanlou, M., Allahyari, M. S., & Damalas, C. A. (2018). Pesticide use in cereal production in Moghan Plain, Iran: Risk knowledge and farmers’ attitudes. Crop Protection, 110, 117–124.
Burton, K. D., Lydon, J. E., D’Alessandro, D. U., & Koestner, R. (2006). The differential effects of intrinsic and identified motivation on well-being and performance: Prospective, experimental, and implicit approaches to self-determination theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(4), 750–762.
Chang, H. H., & Wang, H. (2011). The moderating effect of customer perceived value on online shopping behaviour. Online Information Review, 35(3), 333–359.
Chatzisarantis, N. L. D., & Biddle, S. J. H. (1998). Functional significance of psychological variables that are included in the Theory of Planned Behaviour: a Self-Determination Theory approach to the study of attitudes, subjective norms, perceptions of control and intentions. European Journal of Social Psychology, 28(3), 303–322.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). The general causality orientations scale: Self-determination in personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 19(2), 109–134.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2002). Overview of Self-Determination Theory: An Organismic Dialectical Perspective. Handbook of Self-Determination Research, 2, 3–33.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2007). SDT: Questionnaires: Intrinsic motivation inventory (IMI).
Dillman, D. A. (2007). Mail and Internet surveys: The Tailored Design Method. John & Wiley Sons. Inc.
Eccles, M. P., Hrisos, S., Francis, J., Kaner, E. F., Dickinson, H. O., Beyer, F., & Johnston, M. (2006). Do self- reported intentions predict clinicians’ behaviour: a systematic review. Implementation Science, 1(1), 1–10.
Flury, B., Murtagh, F., & Heck, A. (1988). Multivariate Data Analysis. Mathematics of Computation, 50(181), 352.
Gagné, M., & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self‐determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(4), 331–362.
Han, H. (2015). Travelers’ pro-environmental behavior in a green lodging context: Converging value-belief-norm theory and the theory of planned behavior. Tourism Management, 47, 164–177.
Herath, C. S. (2012). Do Belief Differences Lead to Change in Behavior? A Study of Sri Lankan Coconut Farmers. CORD, 28(1), 13.
Herath, C. S. (2016). Identification of Training Needs of the Coconut Growers in Sri Lanka. CORD, 32(2), 12.
Herath, C. S., & Wijekoon, R. (2021). Growers’ fertilizer application behaviour and their willingness to pay for the fertilizer: A study in coconut triangle of Sri Lanka. Thai Journal of Agricultural Science, 54(1), 47–63.
Kulik, B. W., O’Fallon, M. J., & Salimath, M. S. (2008). Do Competitive Environments Lead to the Rise and Spread of Unethical Behavior? Parallels from Enron. Journal of Business Ethics, 83(4), 703–723.
Miller, K. A., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1988). Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behaviour. Contemporary Sociology, 17(2), 253.
Mullan, B. A., Wong, C., & Kothe, E. J. (2013). Predicting adolescents’ safe food handling using an extended theory of planned behavior. Food Control, 31(2), 454–460.
Rezaei, R., Seidi, M., & Karbasioun, M. (2019). Pesticide exposure reduction: Extending the theory of planned behavior to understand Iranian farmers’ intention to apply personal protective equipment. Safety Science, 120, 527–537.
Ryan, R. M., & Connell, J. P. (1989). Perceived locus of causality and internalization: Examining reasons for acting in two domains. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(5), 749–761.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2014). Self-determination theory. Encyclopaedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research, 5755–5760.
Savari, M., & Gharechaee, H. (2020). Application of the extended theory of planned behavior to predict Iranian farmers’ intention for safe use of chemical fertilizers. Journal of Cleaner Production, 263, 121512.
Terano, R., Mohamed, Z., Shamsudin, M. N., & Latif, I. A. (2015). Factors Influencing Intention to Adopt Sustainable Agriculture Practices among Paddy Farmers in Kada, Malaysia. Asian Journal of Agricultural Research, 9(5), 268–275.
Tsai, Y.-M., Kunter, M., Lüdtke, O., Trautwein, U., & Ryan, R. M. (2008). What makes lessons interesting? The role of situational and individual factors in three school subjects. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(2), 460–472.
Viklund, M., & Sjöberg, L. (2008). An Expectancy‐Value Approach to Determinants of Trust. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38(2), 294–313.
