Behavioral drivers of the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices: A best-worst scaling experiment among Italian winegrowers

The European Union’s increasing focus on voluntary approaches to the adoption of sustainability practices calls for a deeper understanding of farmers' decision-making and the behavioral mechanisms underlying the uptake. We conducted a best-worst scaling experiment among Italian winegrowers investigating the most and least relevant among 11 behavioral factors—encompassing dispositional, social, and cognitive dimensions—associated with the decision to adopt sustainable farming practices. Moreover, we also evaluated how contextual and farm structural characteristics relate to the relative importance attributed to each behavioral factor. Results indicate that expected environmental benefits and sensitivity to environmental issues are the most important factors, followed by expected economic benefits and expected costs, whereas social approval and the behavior of other farmers are the least important. The relative importance attributed to behavioral factors is significantly associated with farm size, farm type, and perception of barriers to adoption. The perception of economic barriers is significantly associated with a lower importance attributed to most factors. From a policy perspective, our findings suggest that providing information on the costs and benefits of sustainable farming practices should be prioritized; however, this alone is likely to be insufficient without accompanying economic support for adoption.