How do passengers living in Finland perceive aviation's contribution to climate change
Peltoniemi, Pinja (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202504166692
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202504166692
Tiivistelmä
This thesis explores how passengers living in Finland perceive the environmental impact of the aviation industry and how this awareness influences their travel behavior. The study is driven by the increasing demand for climate-based solutions and the aviation industry’s commitment to sustainable development.
As global efforts to reduce emissions intensify, understanding the public’s willingness to support sustainable aviation becomes increasingly important. The study focuses on passenger travel and excludes cargo and mail transport, using a quantitative survey to measure awareness levels, behavioral changes, willingness to pay more for greener options, and demographic influences.
The survey results show a strong awareness of aviation’s environmental impact, particularly among younger passengers. However, this awareness often fails to lead to behavioral change, revealing a significant attitude-behavior gap. While many respondents express that they care about the environment, most are unwilling to fly less or spend more on traveling sustainably. The study applies the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Awareness-Attitude-Behavior (AAB) model to explain these patterns, concluding that TPB offers a stronger framework for understanding why sustainable behavior does not always lead to action.
The results provide practical insights for airlines, policymakers, and stakeholders aiming to close the attitude-behavior gap by designing more effective interventions, incentives, and communication strategies. This study contributes to limited research focusing on consumer-side perceptions of aviation sustainability, particularly within the Nordic context.
As global efforts to reduce emissions intensify, understanding the public’s willingness to support sustainable aviation becomes increasingly important. The study focuses on passenger travel and excludes cargo and mail transport, using a quantitative survey to measure awareness levels, behavioral changes, willingness to pay more for greener options, and demographic influences.
The survey results show a strong awareness of aviation’s environmental impact, particularly among younger passengers. However, this awareness often fails to lead to behavioral change, revealing a significant attitude-behavior gap. While many respondents express that they care about the environment, most are unwilling to fly less or spend more on traveling sustainably. The study applies the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Awareness-Attitude-Behavior (AAB) model to explain these patterns, concluding that TPB offers a stronger framework for understanding why sustainable behavior does not always lead to action.
The results provide practical insights for airlines, policymakers, and stakeholders aiming to close the attitude-behavior gap by designing more effective interventions, incentives, and communication strategies. This study contributes to limited research focusing on consumer-side perceptions of aviation sustainability, particularly within the Nordic context.