ArticleConservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology2026
Behavioral interventions to reduce demand for threatened freshwater turtles as pets.
Article in Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Behavioral interventions to reduce demand for threatened freshwater turtles as pets.Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Growing demand for freshwater turtles as pets has fueled illegal trade and accelerated wild population declines, underscoring the need for theory-based demand-reduction interventions. We conducted a three-part randomized controlled trial with active turtle keepers (n = 1800) in China to test conservation- and legality-framed messages by comparing purchase intention before and after the intervention between treatment and control groups for two globally threatened species: Indochinese box turtle (Cuora galbinifrons) and the big-headed turtle (Platysternon megacephalum). Drawing on an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB), we modeled frame-specific claim agreement, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and perceived self-efficacy with structural equation models. Conservation and legality messages significantly reduced purchase intention relative to a no-message control (mean declines of 0.37-0.84 points on a 5-point scale across treatment arms) primarily through indirect psychological pathways. Conservation messages heightened harm-based evaluations and moral concern, whereas legality messages strengthened illegality appraisals and deterrence-related cognitions. Across models, claim agreement was a key proximal antecedent, subjective norms consistently predicted lower self-efficacy, and self-efficacy emerged as the most proximal positive predictor of intention. Perceived behavioral control showed no direct effect. Species-specific differences in pathways, suggestive of reactance in the big-headed turtle conservation model, reflected variation in legal signals and market narratives. Our findings highlight the importance of claim agreement, injunctive norms, and species context in shaping intervention outcomes. Demand-reduction campaigns may be more effective when tailored to species-specific legal and market conditions and when normative cues are paired with feasible alternatives and practical guidance that makes compliance achievable.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.