A Dark Side of Trust: Examining the Influence of Environmental Risk Perception on Citizens’ Plastic-Avoiding Behavior

This study explores the influencing dynamics of environmental risk perception on plastic-avoiding behavior by incorporating government trust and environmental locus of control within the influencing structure. Via an online survey, this study received 1126 valid responses and used partial least square-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) techniques for data analysis. Three major findings are obtained. First, environmental risk perception positively impacts people’s plastic-avoiding behavior. Second, this relationship is partially mediated by environmental locus of control. Finally, government trust moderates the impact of environmental risk perception on both the environmental locus of control and plastic-avoiding behavior. When government trust is higher (lower), environmental risk perception has less (more) influence on the environmental locus of control and plastic-avoiding behavior. Therefore, absolute high government trust is far from ideal in environmental management because it induces high government dependence, which stimulates people’s “inertia” and makes them shirk their responsibilities for environmental protection. To reduce the dark side of government trust, it is suggested that the government shows some “weakness” and emphasizes its need for the public’s support for plastic crisis management.