Incentives for consumers to use reusable bags

The participants were asked about their shopping tendencies and on whether they preferred the reusable or disposable bags. The majority of the respondents were also concerned about environmental degradation which was caused by disposable bags. However, they were careful to point out that taxes levied on disposable bags was a major impact on carrying their own reusable bags to the shop. Incentives or financial rewards given did not have a major influence on their shopping behavior. The research was carried out for a period of two weeks in the month of September. The brand explosion without price control contributed to a catastrophic environment, despite the marginal costs of plastic bags to manufacturers and the presumed null costs to customers (Karmarkar et al 2015).

Therefore, the negative impacts of disposable bags have rendered this research paper to find out how consumers who are the major users of plastic or disposable bags, can be influenced through incentives to curtail this menace (Clapp 2009). The study explores the prospective financial, ecological and even social effects that a ban on plastic could have in the world by examining the disadvantages of plastic shopping bags. Analysis of scholarly research studies. Literature review done by Kamenica on the psychology of incentives. Nonetheless, there are conflicting reports on the effects of very poor financial incentives. The study analyzed the impact of the five-cent tax levied on buying disposable bags in the Washington Metropolitan Area which was mainly focused on an original data collection.

Although the offer was low, she noticed that the price decreased significantly as compared to the proportion of consumers using a reusable bag. A similar policy, though, giving a five-cent incentive for recycled bag use to retailers had virtually no impact on behavior (Homonoff 2013). This is in accordance with a risk avoidance template which highlights the importance of creating a financial incentive (Mayer 2008). Therefore, an individual’s responses towards the environment are as a result of the former’s stimuli. For instance, a consumer's awareness of bringing their own reusable bags will render organic foods to be more available, evoke environmental decisions in general or induce the intention of being a virtuous, socially and morally responsible individual (Vaughn 2009). As such, the behavioral theory would suggest that the choices of consumers to opt for reusable bags are not a result of monetary incentives and taxes but due to their being of consciousness towards the environment (Karmarkar 2014).

Hypotheses- The application of formative research While policies that encourage reusable bags are becoming increasingly popular, systematic quantitative research is missing to measure the efficiency of those policies. In order to evaluate the effect of these policies, we gathered a broad set of data relating to individual levels of consumption of disposable and reusable bags by analysis of the purchasing habits of consumers in malls and grocery stores. Some shoppers were also aware of the environmental impact of plastic bags hence, they opted for reusable ones. The need to be a morally responsible person due to the conservation of the surroundings also constituted to consumers preferring a reusable bag which further abandons the idea of financial rewards. In contrast, consumers who opted to use disposable bags after taxes have used fewer bags per trip and the overall demand for more than one product per trip has dropped.

If every household were to be shopping once a week after the levying of taxes, this would mean that several millions of plastic bags would have been eliminated annually. With these results, it is evident that a small financial incentive can have a large impact on the elimination of disposable bags which merges with Homonoff’s (2013) findings. The dependent variables were the need to either come with a reusable bag or buy an already taxed disposable bag. Limitations of the study The research study had a smaller demographic representation hence, this could not be an overall representation of wider demographics. Additionally, the methods used which were the observation and questionnaire could not be accurately made since some consumers could have exaggerated their opinions while others could deliberately give misleading information.

During the observations, not all consumers were observed since in some stores exit there were multitudes of shoppers thus deterring clear observations. With these findings, the lack of reliable data would deter clear results. , & Swanston, L. Doing away with plastic shopping bags: international patterns of norm emergence and policy implementation.  Environmental politics, 18(3), 315-332. Fleisher, C. Would a nickel tax on disposable bags be enough to change behavior? American Economic Association. Econ. Karmarkar, U. R. , & Bollinger, B. BYOB: How Bringing Your Own Shopping Bags Leads to Treating Yourself and the Environment. org/10. 1016/j. jenvman. 009 Sharp, A. , Høj, S.  Industrial Marketing Management, 63, 105-115. Zambrano-Monserrate, M. A. , & Alejandra Ruano, M. Do you need a bag? Analyzing the consumption behavior of plastic bags of households in Ecuador.