Why does frugality influence the recycling intention of waste materials?

Abstract

Waste recycling significantly impacts the sustainable development of society and the ecological environment, contributing to a vital role within the waste management hierarchy. This paper presents a research model that investigates the influence mechanism of consumers’ frugality on their recycling intentions. This study collected 420 valid samples to test the model with regression analysis. The empirical results show that consumers’ frugality exerts a direct and positive effect on their recycling intention. Except for the positive direct effect, perceived value mediates the relationship between frugality and recycling intention. Besides, environmental concern strengthens the positive relationship between frugality and recycling intention. The findings of this study can better explain the recycling intention, thereby providing a basis for the government and enterprises to formulate policies and measures to promote recycling behavior.

Frugal or Sustainable? The Interplay of Consumers’ Personality Traits and Self-Regulated Minds in Recycling Behavior

“…This relation highlights the duality of the self-regulated mindset as a motivation for recycling behavior (H2, H3a and H3b). Despite each variable's direction being corroborated by previous studies [42,48,54,61,64,69], the integration of these variables in our study represents a significant and novel finding. Frugal individuals tend to be goal-directed, planning and taking action to achieve their goals [81].…”

“…For example, research conducted by Lastovicka et al [17] found that frugality predicts resource-saving behaviors, including recycling. Ribeiro et al [42] and Wang et al [64] also found that frugality positively affects consumers' recycling intention and recycling behavior. Additionally, several studies that conceptualize frugality in terms of consumption habits, emphasizing the optimal utilization of assets and minimizing waste, have established a positive correlation between frugality, green consumption, and recycling [65].…”