Why do good? Understanding the role of farmers' norms and beliefs as predictors of adoption of good management practice in Southland

Abstract

This research investigates how farmers' norms and beliefs predict adoption of 10 farm specific good management practices (GMPs) for improved water quality in Southland. These GMPs are components of Environment Southland's Water and Land 2020 & Beyond Project. Based on these GMPs, a survey was conducted which was informed by a modified version of Stern’s Values-Beliefs-Norms model (mBN). The modification excluded Stern's values and new ecological paradigm components, in order to focus on beliefs and norms as the most proximal determinants of GMP adoption. The mBN assumes a causal linear chain whereas the results suggest that beliefs and norms can independently effect adoption of GMPs. Parts of the model display significance for predicting GMP adoption but overall the results show the hypothesised mBN model was a poor fit to the observed data. The discussion identifies the potential role of the individual beliefs and norm components as targeted intervention points for desired behaviour change and considers alternative models and their merits for future research.