The effect of light pollution education on the level of knowledge and behavior of shopkeepers (A case study in Nahavand city)

Light plays an important role in human life, however, the development of light sources which is meant for human comfort, sometimes causes them discomfort. Excessive and unnecessary lighting in shopping centers (i.e., light pollution), especially in the commercial segments of the cities, can be harmful to people's health including the sellers, customers and passersby. The level of knowledge and awareness of people about light pollution and its adverse effects on the attitude and behavior of people have been proven to be very important. Therefore, in this study, the influence of education about light and light pollution on the level of shopkeepers’ knowledge and behavior on the matter was investigated in Nahavand city. Material and methods: In this study, we exploited a quasi-experimental design and collected data using questionnaires. The validity of the questionnaire was approved by experts and its reliability was confirmed with Cronbach's alpha. The statistical population of this study was 40 shopkeepers in Gheisarieyeh Street of Nahavand city, which were selected based on investigator’s judgment and then were randomly categorized in control and testing groups. Pre-tests were done and then seven hours training were performed for experimental groups and finally, a post-test was applied. The obtained data were analyzed with Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, independent-samples t-test, student’s paired-samples t-test, and analysis of covariance tests (ANCOVA). The results of ANCOVA and t-test showed that the mean score of awareness and behavior variables were significantly different between experimental and control groups after training (with 95% confidence). The effect size of training for shopkeepers' awareness variables including the light pollution concepts and dimensions of economic, health, safety, environmental and social were, respectively, 37%, 51%, 59%, 25%, 60% and 19%. P-value for behavior variable was 0.000 which was lower than 0.05. This study showed that education on light and its related subjects (e.g., light pollution) may be useful in increasing awareness and promoting the behavior of shopkeepers. Therefore, increasing public
knowledge in order to change the behaviors of sellers and shopkeepers, especially those active in night hours, is of great importance.