An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in Bangladesh
Despite being widely advocated as a climate-smart farming system, the adoption of conservation agriculture (CA) among Bangladeshi farmers has remained surprisingly low. Evidence indicates that farmers’ behavior regarding the adoption and continuation of CA is affected by their socioeconomic and psyc...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-02-01
|
Series: | Agriculture |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/2/503 |
_version_ | 1797622897378852864 |
---|---|
author | Riffat Ara Zannat Tama Md Mahmudul Hoque Ying Liu Mohammad Jahangir Alam Mark Yu |
author_facet | Riffat Ara Zannat Tama Md Mahmudul Hoque Ying Liu Mohammad Jahangir Alam Mark Yu |
author_sort | Riffat Ara Zannat Tama |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Despite being widely advocated as a climate-smart farming system, the adoption of conservation agriculture (CA) among Bangladeshi farmers has remained surprisingly low. Evidence indicates that farmers’ behavior regarding the adoption and continuation of CA is affected by their socioeconomic and psychological factors. This study combined the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theories to examine the socio-psychological determinants of Bangladeshi farmers’ behavior regarding the adoption of CA. The proposed model included both reflective and formative measurements. Based on data collected from 201 CA farmers, this research used a variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach to test the model. The analysis showed that the components of this integrated model explained more variance (Intention: 48.9%; Attitude: 59.2%) than the original TAM framework (Intention: 45.8%; Attitude: 54.5%). Farmers’ attitudes toward the continuation of CA were most influenced by the Relative Advantage (RA) of CA (<i>β</i> = 0.337). The low level of Complexity (<i>β</i> = 0.225) and Compatibility (<i>β</i> = 0.273) of CA had a significant positive effect on attitude. In a campaign to encourage farmers to act more sustainably, interventions should emphasize CA’s long-term benefits, such as its effects on soil, yield, and the environment. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:17:45Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-3e1e30a774ee4273957afe987d0c65a1 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2077-0472 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:17:45Z |
publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Agriculture |
spelling | doaj.art-3e1e30a774ee4273957afe987d0c65a12023-11-16T18:32:10ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722023-02-0113250310.3390/agriculture13020503An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in BangladeshRiffat Ara Zannat Tama0Md Mahmudul Hoque1Ying Liu2Mohammad Jahangir Alam3Mark Yu4Department of Agricultural Economics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensing 2202, BangladeshMinistry of Public Administration, Dhaka 1000, BangladeshCollege of Economics and Management, North China University of Technology, Beijing 100144, ChinaDepartment of Agribusiness and Marketing, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensing 2202, BangladeshDivision of Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Science, Tarleton State University, P.O. Box T-0040, Stephenville, TX 76402, USADespite being widely advocated as a climate-smart farming system, the adoption of conservation agriculture (CA) among Bangladeshi farmers has remained surprisingly low. Evidence indicates that farmers’ behavior regarding the adoption and continuation of CA is affected by their socioeconomic and psychological factors. This study combined the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theories to examine the socio-psychological determinants of Bangladeshi farmers’ behavior regarding the adoption of CA. The proposed model included both reflective and formative measurements. Based on data collected from 201 CA farmers, this research used a variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach to test the model. The analysis showed that the components of this integrated model explained more variance (Intention: 48.9%; Attitude: 59.2%) than the original TAM framework (Intention: 45.8%; Attitude: 54.5%). Farmers’ attitudes toward the continuation of CA were most influenced by the Relative Advantage (RA) of CA (<i>β</i> = 0.337). The low level of Complexity (<i>β</i> = 0.225) and Compatibility (<i>β</i> = 0.273) of CA had a significant positive effect on attitude. In a campaign to encourage farmers to act more sustainably, interventions should emphasize CA’s long-term benefits, such as its effects on soil, yield, and the environment.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/2/503conservation agricultureattitudeintentionbehavioral sustainabilityBangladesh |
spellingShingle | Riffat Ara Zannat Tama Md Mahmudul Hoque Ying Liu Mohammad Jahangir Alam Mark Yu An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in Bangladesh Agriculture conservation agriculture attitude intention behavioral sustainability Bangladesh |
title | An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in Bangladesh |
title_full | An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in Bangladesh |
title_fullStr | An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in Bangladesh |
title_full_unstemmed | An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in Bangladesh |
title_short | An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in Bangladesh |
title_sort | application of partial least squares structural equation modeling pls sem to examining farmers behavioral attitude and intention towards conservation agriculture in bangladesh |
topic | conservation agriculture attitude intention behavioral sustainability Bangladesh |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/2/503 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT riffatarazannattama anapplicationofpartialleastsquaresstructuralequationmodelingplssemtoexaminingfarmersbehavioralattitudeandintentiontowardsconservationagricultureinbangladesh AT mdmahmudulhoque anapplicationofpartialleastsquaresstructuralequationmodelingplssemtoexaminingfarmersbehavioralattitudeandintentiontowardsconservationagricultureinbangladesh AT yingliu anapplicationofpartialleastsquaresstructuralequationmodelingplssemtoexaminingfarmersbehavioralattitudeandintentiontowardsconservationagricultureinbangladesh AT mohammadjahangiralam anapplicationofpartialleastsquaresstructuralequationmodelingplssemtoexaminingfarmersbehavioralattitudeandintentiontowardsconservationagricultureinbangladesh AT markyu anapplicationofpartialleastsquaresstructuralequationmodelingplssemtoexaminingfarmersbehavioralattitudeandintentiontowardsconservationagricultureinbangladesh AT riffatarazannattama applicationofpartialleastsquaresstructuralequationmodelingplssemtoexaminingfarmersbehavioralattitudeandintentiontowardsconservationagricultureinbangladesh AT mdmahmudulhoque applicationofpartialleastsquaresstructuralequationmodelingplssemtoexaminingfarmersbehavioralattitudeandintentiontowardsconservationagricultureinbangladesh AT yingliu applicationofpartialleastsquaresstructuralequationmodelingplssemtoexaminingfarmersbehavioralattitudeandintentiontowardsconservationagricultureinbangladesh AT mohammadjahangiralam applicationofpartialleastsquaresstructuralequationmodelingplssemtoexaminingfarmersbehavioralattitudeandintentiontowardsconservationagricultureinbangladesh AT markyu applicationofpartialleastsquaresstructuralequationmodelingplssemtoexaminingfarmersbehavioralattitudeandintentiontowardsconservationagricultureinbangladesh |