The Role of Eco-Apps in Encouraging Pro-Environmental Behavior of Young People Studying in Poland

Nowadays, protection of the natural environment is the fundamental duty and challenge of humanity. Adverse environmental changes make it necessary to encourage behaviors that will reduce our negative impact. Due to the development of media, information reaches consumers through various channels. New media, including mobile applications, are becoming increasingly popular. Their potential impact on young consumers cannot be overestimated as young people are able to modify their attitudes, behaviors and habits more easily than older ones. The main aim of this study was to recognize the use of eco-applications as a new source of information in the field of pro-environmental behavior of young people studying in Poland. The research objectives included the identification of pro-environmental behaviors most often declared by students, verifying their recognition and use of eco-applications, and determining the features of eco-app design expected by young users. The study involved the methods of desk research, in-depth interview and computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI). The empirical material obtained from 772 students representing Generation Z underwent quantitative and qualitative analysis, which allowed for the verification the proposed hypotheses. The respondents most often declared pro-environmental behavior in the household context. As regards eco-apps, the respondents were most likely to recognize applications promoted via traditional media. The main feature expected of eco-app design was ease of use, which does not mean that users expected the app to be in Polish, as this criterion was relatively low rated. The Mann-Whitney test and the Kruskal-Wallis test revealed relationships between such variables as gender, place of residence or income and pro-environmental behavior, the use of selected eco-apps and the expected features of eco-app design.