Psychological and demographic predictors of plastic bag consumption in transaction data

Abstract

Despite the success of plastic bag charges in the UK, there are still around a billion single-use plastic bags bought each year in England alone, and the government have made plans to increase the levy from 5 to 10 pence. Previous research has identified motivations for bringing personal bags to a supermarket, but little is known about the individuals who are continuing to frequently purchase single-use plastic bags after the levy. In this study, over a million loyalty card transaction records from a high-street health and beauty retailer were harnessed to study 12,968 individuals' bag buying behaviour (analysed using descriptive statistics). Statistical regional differences in plastic bag buying throughout the UK occurred. From the transaction data 2,326 frequent single-use plastic bag buyers were identified and matched randomly to infrequent buyers, creating a balanced sub-sample which was used for predictive modelling (N =4,652). For each individual in the modelling sample, their transaction data was matched to questionnaire responses measuring demographics, shopping motivations, and individual differences. Using this data, an exploratory machine learning approach was utilised to investigate the demographic and psychological predictors of frequent plastic bag consumption. It was found that frequent bag buyers spent more money in store, were younger, more likely to be male, less frugal, open to new experiences, and more displeased with their appearance (compared with infrequent bag buyers). Interestingly, environmental concerns did not predict plastic bag consumption, highlighting the disconnect between predicting pro-environmental attitudes and real world environmental behaviour.

Plastic Food Packaging: Perceptions and Attitudes of Portuguese Consumers about Environmental Impact and Recycling

“…Six months after implementing the charge for plastic bags in England, it was verified that the number of disposable plastic bags used dropped by more than 85%, around 500 million units. Likewise, there was an increase in the awareness of the environmental impact of household plastic waste and the population's support for the issue [24]. Studies carried out reveal that the reduction policy is effective, instigating the consumer to avoid the use of plastic bags across 52.3% a year [39].…”

“…Consumers are increasingly concerned about the safety offered by the products which they consume, such as food, water, health-related products such as medicines and other goods used in everyday life [20]. Lavelle-Hill et al [24] verified that people more concerned with environmental issues are currently younger, female, have more money and a higher education. They found that young adults are more concerned with the environment, but older adults adopt more pro-environmental behaviors.…”

“…They found that young adults are more concerned with the environment, but older adults adopt more pro-environmental behaviors. Therefore, specific actions such as purchasing plastic bags may be less motivated by environmental factors and more by economic ones [24]. Nevertheless, this ecological conscientiousness may help increase the adoption of alternative biodegradable materials similar to plastics and bioplastics, many of them obtained from industrial agro-food wastes, as a replacement of traditional plastic materials [14,51].…”

“…Social awareness, education and public pressure play key roles in shaping and encouraging consumer behavioral changes towards a more environmentally friendly responsibility. Nevertheless, correct habits involve more than just motivation, but also self-discipline and a belief in the positive impact of behavior change [24].…”

“…Still, the success of recycling is directly related to cultural, political, and socioeconomic factors, such as the implementation of recycling companies, the existence of selective collection, and the continuous availability of recyclable waste, incentive programs for recycling projects, encouraging the sale of recycled products, as well as actions in the production-use-consumption chain of packaging [23]. Understanding the profile of people who buy plastic is vital for planning future plastic reduction interventions, legislation, and campaigns [24].…”