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Attitude toward nature and environmental attitude are two distinct propensities that both further learning about the environment. The present study builds upon prior research by investigating the role of attitude toward nature in learning about environmental issues. In a sample of 1,486 university, middle and high school students (M_age = 15.25, SD = 3.2), we first calibrated a pool of items expressing attitude toward nature. We found differences in how adolescents expressed their appreciation for nature at different ages. It is essential to consider these differences to accurately ascertain adolescents’ attitudes toward nature. We then conducted a mediation test. Whereas attitude toward nature determined the levels of knowledge students gained and retained, environmental attitude fully mediated the environmental knowledge subsequently demonstrated by the students. Our research suggests that researchers and educators may benefit from taking an experiential approach to learning about sustainable development by promoting appreciation for nature.

Wealthy populations appear prone to protecting the environment. By contrast, wealthy individuals appear prone to harming it. In other words, wealth appears to have opposing effects on the environmental protection efforts of individuals and populations. In our secondary analysis of Eurobarometer data (N = 27,998) from 28 countries, we demonstrate that wealth represents a behavioral benefit that supports populations' efforts to protect the environment (e.g., via government subsidies). Wealth also represents a behavioral benefit that supports individuals’ efforts to protect the environment (e.g., by making effective home insulation affordable), but it simultaneously represents a behavioral cost that appears to prevent individuals from protecting the environment (e.g., by making excessively large homes affordable). We conclude that when behavioral scientists recognize that wealth can be a cost and a benefit simultaneously, they will ultimately understand when and why populations and individuals engage in environmentally protective actions or fail to do so.

This study delves into the multi-faceted process of consumer acceptance of innovative food products, such as insect-fed farmed fish. This is a food product that introduces new, though potentially conflicting, intangible attributes aligning with circularity and sustainability but also evoking negative emotions, such as disgust or neophobia. Drawing from two distinct studies on young and older Italian consumers, we employ an intergenerational lens to explore individual psychometric characteristics, socio-demographic variables, and nudging effects in shaping the acceptance process. We apply the Campbell Paradigm, integrating three acceptance items into well-established scales measuring attitudes towards the environment and nature.

Our results reveal that environmental protection inclination, rather than a connectedness to nature, primarily drives acceptance. Notably, young consumers exhibit a more facile acceptance process, indicating lower behavioral costs at each stage. Sociodemographic variables, particularly gender, exert varied influences on acceptance stages, with older women displaying greater hesitancy in adopting new dietary practices. Additionally, exploring the impact of nudges, we find that information significantly influences acceptance, while visual priming does not. Interestingly, the effectiveness of information varies between generations, indicating different reactions and responses.

The findings propose strategies for policymakers and marketers to highlight the positive attributes of insects-fed farmed fish, emphasizing sustainability and addressing consumer disgust concerns. Introducing insects as feed in various farming practices may enhance familiarity with this alternative protein source, potentially reducing disgust and fostering widespread acceptance.