Environmental attitudes and behavioral patterns of consumers in the southern catchment area of Lake Balaton

Abstract

It is not by chance that environmental consciousness is a popular and current topic. Due to the various processes of globalization and consumerism, mankind causes seemingly irreversible damages to the Earth. Our research aims at exploring the environmental attitude of residents living in the key settlements within the southern catchment area of Lake Balaton1. Results indicate that respondents show above average interest in environmental issues, but consider their own responsibility insignificant (or at least less significant). Further, the number of those who believe that their actions can efficiently contribute to the preservation of the environment is even smaller. The higher one’s level of education is, the more likely one will show environmental responsibility, impressions of „effective contribution” and bias towards ecofriendly products - although the popularity of these latter is not significant yet among the residents of the southern catchment area of Lake Balaton, since only 17.4% of the consumers look for these instead of the more traditional product lines. The most wide-spread preservation actions among the residents are the selective management of waste and power saving.