Abstract
Despite widespread concern for environmental issues, a noticeable gap
between concern and pro-environmental actions persists across countries
and cultures. This study examines this gap in South Africa, analyzing the
relationship between income and pro-environmental behavior using the
ISSP 2020 Environment dataset. Linear regression results reveal that income
positively correlates with concern-behavior gaps in recycling and green
purchase behavior, however insignificant for the concern-public environmental
activism gap. Lower-income individuals display smaller gaps; they have less
environmental concern but engage more in recycling, possibly for economic
survival. Conversely, higher-income individuals display greater environmental
concern but have relatively low recycling, green purchase behaviors and
tendencies for public environmental activism. These findings underscore the
potential for policymakers to leverage the strong pro-environmental behavior
habits of lower-income groups by supporting sustainable practices that offer
both economic and environmental benefits while encouraging higher-income
groups to adopt more active environmental practices.