4.2.3. Salience

Out of the four variables we examined, salience contributed the least to understanding behavioral group differences. The respondents' salience perceptions did not support the hypothesis that increased knowledge about water quality would impact tap water usage and partially supported the hypothesis that increased attention to tap water changes would be related to decreased tap water usage. Grupper [27] surveyed respondents to determine the role that salience plays in trust formation and found that salience acts as an important contextual variable for trust determinants. While salience may not have a strong influence on drinking water behavior directly, it is indirectly relevant through the formation of trust, which is more proximately related to behavioral choice.
