Investigating the Explanatory Power of Social Milieus in Forestry: Towards a Better Explanation of Forest-Related Attitudes and Behaviours of Forest Owners

This study examines the explanatory power of Sinus Milieus, a model developed in Germany for social milieu based segregation analysis, particularly in understanding the forest-related attitudes and behaviours of private forest owners (PFOs). By analysing 121 dependent variables, the study compares Sinus Milieus with socio-demographic, structural, and network-related variables. The results demonstrate that Sinus Milieus provide a medium (Cramer’s V ≥0.15-<0.25) to strong (CV≥0.25) explanatory value in understanding PFOs&apos; perceptions of forest threats, future forest activities, priorities for future advisory services, and for future forest land use. In particular, Sinus Milieus offer better explanations for PFOs’ views on future forest activities and areas for professional advice than other variables, such as socio-demographics. Furthermore, the study reveals that Sinus Milieus are better suited to explain PFOs’ forest-related behaviour, such as past activities and general information uses, than socio-demographic variables.  Additionally the findings show that caretaker networks (who PFO turn to, to get advice related to their forest) and FOA membership are often significant in explaining forest-related attitudes and behaviours. The study also highlights the interrelations between Sinus Milieus and other key variables, showing that social milieus and network factors are crucial for understanding forest management decisions. In conclusion, the findings suggest that incorporating social milieus and network-related variables into forest management research offers valuable insights into PFOs&apos; attitudes and behaviours, which are often overlooked by traditional socio-demographic and structural analyses. This study contributes to the growing recognition of social milieus in empirical social sciences in the environmental and forestry domains, emphasising their importance in forest policy, PFO research, and communication.