16998: Navigating Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Climate Change Awareness in Business Education

This study explores the influence of pro-environmental attitudes on pro-environmental behavioral intentions among business students in the Western Balkans, given their future leadership roles. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Cognitive Theory, we hypothesize that the expectations of extreme climate change impacts mediate this relationship. At the same time, the addictive use of social media moderates it. Preliminary cross-sectional survey of business students (N = 372) from five universities in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro shows that higher levels of social media addiction weaken the direct relationship between pro-environmental attitudes and behavioral intentions. On the other hand, they also strengthen the indirect path through the expectations of extreme climate events. These results indicate a dual role of social media, increasing climate awareness but distracting from direct pro-environmental action. We intend to expand the study by collecting additional data across five European regions (Western Balkans, Eastern, Southern, and Western Europe) within the European University Alliance SEA-EU (European University of the Seas). Along with improving the generalizability of the initial findings, the additional data collection will address the potential cultural limitations of the initial results. The poster will discuss the expanded results and their implications for business education and public policy.

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