Wildlife crimes such as poaching and the illegal trade in wild animals and plants are globally prolific and may converge with other serious crimes including drugs and arms trafficking. Wildlife crime is a wicked problem, requiring interdisciplinary approaches to manage its far-reaching impacts on the environment, social justice, public health, the economy, governance, etc. Conservation organizations frequently use public communication and campaigns to draw the public’s attention to issues such as wildlife crime. These campaigns often urge audiences to take various actions such as donating money to support the organizations’ efforts to combat wildlife crime. Despite their reliance on communication to reach and engage their audiences, little is publicly known about the effects of such communication on conservation behaviors. In fact, we do not yet know which social-psychological factors matter most in driving behaviors linked to curbing wildlife crime. This dissertation compares the theory of planned behavior and the value-belief-norm theory – both widely used to explain environmental behaviors – and compares responses from a cross-national group of participants from India and the United States of America to provide new empirical evidence of how well each theory performs in predicting intentions to donate money to conservation organizations to reduce wildlife crime. It also explores the potential for using wildlife value orientations in studies that focus specifically on wildlife-related behaviors, rather than the New Ecological Paradigm scale that is used as part of the value-belief-norm model. Data was collected from a total of 1,820 participants, of which 900 were from the U.S. and 920 were from India. The survey instrument assessed responses to the primary constructs in the planned behavior and value-belief-norm theory. Data were analyzed using correlations, regressions, multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. Results indicate that the theory of planned behavior explained greater variance in donation intentions for both Indian and U.S. groups but attitude toward behavior did not have a significant association with intention in the multivariate analysis in either sample. While the value-belief-norm theory explained lesser variance in donation intentions, and it held up as expected for the U.S. sample with good reliability metrics, scale reliability was low for the Indian sample and convergent validity was poor overall with values and ecological worldview dimensions manifesting unexpectedly in multivariate regressions. Measurement models and structural models were different for both samples, necessitating a parallel analysis. A modified value-belief-norm model with mutualistic wildlife value orientations had slightly better fit for the India sample but slightly lower for the U.S. sample. Perceived behavioral control was the strongest predictor for India while personal norms mattered most in the US sample. Key contributions of this dissertation to advancing theory and building new empirical knowledge in environmental communication and conservation social science research are discussed. In recognizing that several existing scales were developed by and for primarily Western audiences, this dissertation also underscores the importance of cross-validating measures and being inclusive of communities in non-Western emerging economies. Theoretical and practical implications of the results along with directions for future research and limitations are also discussed.
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