Demographics of Environmental Responsibility – Who Keeps Up? AUTHOR: Edith Lai ABSTRACT: To help minimize waste production, many individuals have taken it upon themselves to replace single-use goods with reusable products. Governments and environmentally conscious businesses are increasingly interested in knowing how to better promote sustainable practices and understanding how green consumerism varies across demographic categories on a global scale. In New Zealand, bringing a reusable cup, colloquially called a “keepcup,” to a coffee shop can significantly reduce the amount of single-use paper cups ending up in landfills. This observational study examines whether the economic incentive of a discount is effective in motivating individuals to use keepcups. At coffee shops throughout Wellington, New Zealand, we counted the number of keepcup users among customers ordering takeaway coffee and compared the values based on whether the shop offered discounts for using keepcups. Preliminary study results confirm that offering a discounted price of coffee for using a keepcup significantly increases the proportion of keepcup users. After stratifying the data set by gender, results show that economic incentives only significantly increase keepcup usage amongst males but not females, supporting analogous research on environmental behavior theorizing that females are inherently more socially conscious consumers. Stratifying the data set by age showed that young and old consumers are equally motivated by discounts, thus age may not be as much an explanatory variable to environmental behavior. A more nuanced understanding of environmental behavior is necessary to ensure that all social and demographic groups contribute equally to the collective effort to reduce waste.
INTRODUCTION In the past few decades, rapid and rampant industrialization has produced a worldwide climate crisis threatening the health and wellbeing of individuals, communities, and ecosystems (Pachauri). Although corporations are responsible for the vast majority of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and should be held accountable in the efforts to mitigate climate change, individuals can supplement the global movement towards sustainability by adopting more environmentally conscious behavior (Caney). Individuals can help limit GHG emissions by collectively reducing waste production. By opting for reusable products over single-use goods, consumers can gradually lessen their dependence on high intensity production and waste facilities (Castellani et al.). In general, people prefer cutting costs and avoiding unnecessary expenses (Viscusi et al., Poortinga et al.). A common policy tactic for encouraging environmental behavior within communities is providing economic incentives like subsidies and discounts. For example, bottle recycling is promoted through the bottle-deposit system, which incentivizes recycling with a small financial reward. This system has been effective in promoting a sustainable action despite the slight inconvenience taken by the individual (Viscusi et al.). Similar methods have been applied on different scales, such as governments reducing GHG emissions with carbon taxes and businesses advising individuals to
bring their own grocery bags (“How Carbon Tax Works,” Laroche et al.). The use of economic incentives to alter consumer behavior is ubiquitous, but it is important to confirm and evaluate its effectiveness in different contexts. Environmentalists must also take into account that certain people may be more willing than others to adopt environmental behavior. Understanding the motivating factors for environmental behavior can promote green consumption and waste reduction. One measurement used to determine amiability to environmental behavior is willingness to pay for a sustainable good. Factors affecting willingness to pay include demographics, knowledge, values, attitudes, and behavior (Laroche et al.). Despite being one of the weaker explanatory variables, research on demographics can help businesses focus marketing towards specific groups (Laroche et al., Follows et al.). Studies have noted that females are typically more socially conscious and more concerned about the environment than their male counterparts (Laroche et al., Berkowitz and Lutterman, Fisher et al., Anderson and Cunningham). In general, women also demonstrate greater value in collectivism than individualism (Triandis). These studies conclude that women are more likely to engage in environmental behavior regardless of individual cost or benefit while men need more external incentives before choosing to act for the greater good (Fisher et al., Anderson and CunningSpring 2020 / Perennial
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