Exploring differences of farmers’ intention to adopt agricultural low-carbon technologies: an application of TPB and VBN combination

The promotion of low-carbon technologies (LCTs) is an important way to promote agricultural carbon reduction and respond to climate change. In this study, the intentions to adopt LCTs of 528 planting farms was investigated by random sampling, and the structural equation model was used for analysis. The study confirmed that the model combining theory of planned behavior (TPB) and theory of ‘value-belief-norm’ (VBN) is appropriate in predicting the adoption intention of LCTs. Importantly, there were differences in the formation mechanism of adoption behavior between traditional farmers (with lower levels of education, less experience and focus on short-term interests) and elite farmers (with higher levels of education, more experience and focus on long-term interests). The impact of behavior attitude on intentions of LCTs was not tenable for traditional farmers, while the effect of perceived behavior control on behavior of LCTs was not tenable for elite farmers. Overall, this study confirms the importance of designing differentiated low-carbon technology promotion programs. In the future research, we will continue to pay attention to the differences of agricultural low-carbon technology adoption in different regions, hoping to provide some inspiration for agricultural managers.