Air Pollution - Information Needs and the Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviour of Canadians - Final Report

13.0 Attitudinal Groups

13.1 Analysis

As part of this study, Environics conducted a cluster analysis of the data to see if there were distinct groups within the Canadian population that had internally coherent views toward air pollution and health. A number of cluster solutions were proposed, based on a factor analysis of a selection of attitudinal questions.

In this segmentation strategy, rather than simply segmenting the public on their opinions and attitudes toward air pollution per se, we sought first to find more general values and attitudes that might provide a framing orientation to the issue of air pollution for individuals. These more general attitudes toward issues, such as a sense of control over personal health, concern about air quality and faith in the efficacy of environmental-friendly actions, ought to provide an interpretative framework predictive of people's specific attitudes toward air pollution and personal health.

By identifying these predictive, and likely explanatory factors, we would be more likely to give wise counsel about the dynamics of people's attitudes toward this issue, that is, about the main psychological reasons that drive their attitudes of confidence, anxiety, neutrality, indifference, or ambivalence toward air pollution and personal health. In this approach, we attempted to build the segmentation "space" of those general "independent" variables that cause, or are at least strongly predictive of, attitudes towards air pollution and health. The segmentation proceeded in several stages.

Stage 1. First, we examined a variety of items for their face validity and suitability as candidates for their role as predictive factors that might frame the debate for people and best predict their specific attitudes toward air pollution and health. Ten items were selected to form the basis of the segmentation.

Stage 2. We next entered these ten items into a principle components analysis (PCA) designed to unearth any latent, more general constructs that might exist. As the result of this analysis, we uncovered three simple, coherent factors that emerged in various iterations of the analysis. These three factors are:

• A sense that health and life in general are beyond personal control (Questions 26a, 26c, 26d, 26e)
• Concern regarding air pollution & health (Questions 4b, 5, 15)
• Willingness to take action on air pollution and the belief that those actions will be effective (Questions 24, 26b, 28)

Stage 3. To conduct a segmentation based on respondents' scores on these three underlying attitude orientations, factor scores were computed that represent the strength or weakness (relative to all others in the sample) of each respondent on each of the factors. The factors served as new, hierarchically derived variables that became the basis for segmentation.

Stage 4. At the fourth stage, cluster analysis, using SPSS (v10.0) K-means cluster, was executed in order to generate solutions of various segment sizes. Segmentation solutions of size 4, 5, 6 and 7 were all run. In order to ensure the stability and replicability of the solutions, 25 iterations of each size were run. The data were randomly sorted at the start of each iteration to provide a different start point for the Kmeans cluster analysis.

Stage 5. The selection of the final solution size was done using a combination of statistical analysis and judgment. First, solution sizes that differed dramatically among the 25 iterations were considered inherently unstable, and therefore discarded. Then, the most representative, stable solution of each of the remaining segmentation sizes was selected for the next stage of analysis. Judgement was then used to decide which of the remaining size solutions was chosen as final.

For example, the choice of the number of segments (or clusters) selected often weighs the need for plans or policies to be developed for relatively few audiences against the need for an articulated space of respondents' mental, emotional and evaluative positions on the issue. In addition, sometimes a solution may be ruled out because one of its segments is relatively much smaller than the others, because there is a general imbalance in the population incidences (sizes) of each group, or because one or more of its members lacks intuitive appeal.

In this case, we examined each solution to see:

1) How successfully it divided respondents into well-differentiated groups according to their attitudes toward air pollution and health, and

2) How successfully it created a set of distinct and cogent issue dynamics associated with each segment, based on the underlying explanatory factors that would help to explain and understand why each group holds the opinions and attitudes they homogeneously expressed.

On the basis of these various criteria, we chose the five-segment solution as the most effective for our purposes and carried it forward for interpretation, profiling and the development of an explanatory rationale concerning attitudes and behaviours relating to air pollution.

13.2 Description of the Attitudinal Groups

Detached Cynics

Comprising one-tenth of the Canadian population (11%), Detached Cynics tend to be younger (31% are between 16 and 29 years of age) and are the least concerned about air quality (13% very concerned). They are also the least likely to spontaneously mention the environment (18%) as a factor that has an impact on a person's health. In general, Detached Cynics have lower levels of concern about all the environmental problems we examined in this survey, and are the least likely of the five attitudinal groups to identify air pollution or air quality (12%) as the most important environmental problem facing Canadians today.

Detached Cynics' lack of concern about air pollution can be further found in the low proportion that suggest it affects the health of Canadians a great deal (6%). This lack of concern may be attributed to the fact that members of this group are less likely to have a respiratory illness (14%) and are less likely to suggest that they suffer (or have suffered) any health problems that were caused by air pollution (5%).

Members of this group are less familiar with the air quality index and are the most likely to suggest that they have never used it. In addition, they are the most likely to report that they never look for air pollution information. They also have a greater preference to have air pollution information only provided to Canadians when there is an air pollution problem (30%).

Looking at attitudinal responses from this group, we find that Detached Cynics are more likely to agree that it is acceptable that an industrial society such as ours produces a certain degree of pollution (mean 4.6¹²), that they really don't have much control over their life (mean 3.9), and that most impacts of air pollution will occur far in the future and will not affect their life (mean 3.5). Although they are more likely to agree they can't do much about their health except deal with it when it comes (mean 3.9), they also display high levels of ambivalence towards this statement (21% giving a neutral statement).

Detached Cynics are the least likely to agree that they are prepared to make major changes in their daily lives to help reduce air pollution (mean 3.2, 19% strongly disagree). Similarly, members of this group are the least likely to indicate that they or someone in their household would do anything differently as a result of an air quality warning being issued (66% not very or not at all likely). Not only are Detached Cynics the least likely to agree that individuals can take actions that will effectively reduce air pollution, they also tend to be the least likely to personally undertake activities to help reduce air pollution.

The cynical opinions of this group can be further seen in their negative attitudes about the usefulness of various types of air pollution information and the credibility of information sources reviewed in this survey.

It is interesting to note that members of this group are the most likely to suggest that air pollution in their community has remained constant over the last five years (73%).

Despite their relative youth, members of the Detached Cynics are more likely to be more affluent members of the Canadian population (70K+, 29%). They are also more likely to be men (60%) and from the Prairies (21%) or Vancouver (11%).

Concerned And Empowered

The largest of the five attitudinal groups (35% of the Canadian population), Concerned and Empowered members are the most likely to spontaneously identify the environment (39%) as a factor that has an impact on a person's health. They also have higher levels of concern about environmental issues, including air quality (76% very concerned), and are more likely to suggest that air pollution has a great deal of effect on the health of Canadians (62%). Furthermore, this group is the most likely to disagree that most impacts of air pollution will occur far in the future and will not affect their life (mean 1.5, 67% strongly disagree) and that some pollution is acceptable in an industrial society such as ours (mean 3.3, 24% strongly disagree).

Concerned and Empowered members are the most likely (29%) to indicate that they suffer (or have suffered) health problems that they felt were due to air pollution. As a result, this group is more likely (13%) to have received advice from a doctor regarding the effect of air pollution on their health.

Members of this group are very confident in their own abilities to shape and control their own destiny. These individuals are the most likely to disagree that they have no control over their life (mean 2.0, 50% strongly disagree) and that they can't do much about their health (mean 1.8, 55% strongly disagree). This confidence in their ability to take effective action can also be seen in the high proportion who strongly agree that individuals can take actions to effectively reduce air pollution (71% strongly agree) and the fact that they are more likely to agree that they are prepared to make changes in their daily life to help reduce air pollution (mean 5.5, 36% strongly agree). Furthermore, Concerned and Empowered members are the most likely (55% very likely) to indicate that they or someone in their household would change their behaviour due to an air quality warning being issued.

In general, Concerned and Empowered members are more likely than the other four attitudinal groups to be very likely to undertake a number of different activities to help combat air pollution. This increased willingness to take action compared to the Canadian average was most noticeable regarding willingness to choose a more fuel-efficient car (71% very likely vs. 63%), take alternative methods of transportation to work (60% very likely vs. 50%), learn more about efficient driving habits (60% very likely vs. 52%), and reduce their use of air conditioners (45% very likely vs. 37%). Members of this group also express higher overall levels of willingness to limit their use of small gas-powered engines, pay more for gasoline or other non-renewable fuels, and pay higher taxes to support action against air pollution.

Members of this group tend to believe that air pollution information should be provided to Canadians all the time (88%).

Not only are Concerned and Empowered members the most frequent users of the air quality index (22% say frequently), they are also the most likely (83%) to indicate that they would use it in the future if one existed in their area. In addition, they are the most likely to look for air pollution information either frequently (20%) or occasionally (49%). When it comes to sources of air pollution information, Concerned and Empowered members have a greater reliance on newspapers and the Int er net.

When it comes to assessing the usefulness of various types of air pollution information, members of this group are the most positive, especially with respect to information regarding the human health effects of air pollution (81% very useful).

In addition, Concerned and Empowered members also assign higher levels of credibility to Environment Canada (74% very credible) and partnerships among governments, health groups and non-governmental organizations (48% very credible) as sources of air pollution information.

A number of demographic characteristics distinguish this group. They have the highest level of educational attainment of the five attitudinal groups. One-third of Concerned and Empowered members (36%) have completed university. Members of this group are also more likely to be women (58%) and have an annual household income between $50,000 and $70,000 (20%).

¹² Responses to the attitudinal questions were placed on a scale of one to seven, where one meant that the respondent strongly disagreed with the statement, seven meant that the respondent strongly agreed with the statement and four meant that they neither agreed or disagreed with the statement. The results are expressed as the mean of all the responses