The Impact of Environmental Concern on Intention to Reduce Consumption of Single-Use Bottled Water

Abstract

The plastic bottles that are used for packaging water are harmful to the environment. The objective of this study was to examine the influence of consumers’ environmental concern on both their intention to reduce consumption of water sold in single-use plastic bottles and their actual behaviour. An extended version of the theory of planned behaviour is used as the main theoretical framework. Structural equation modelling is employed based on data gathered in 2020 from 1011 Polish respondents to test the study’s hypotheses. The results support the model, as all tested relations are statistically significant. More specifically, we confirm the indirect impact of environmental concern on both intention and behaviour concerning bottled water consumption (BWC): environmental concern is positively related to attitudes towards reducing BWC, subjective norms regarding reduction in BWC, perceived behavioural control over BWC, and perceived moral obligation to protect natural resources, all of which, in turn, are positively related to intention to reduce BWC. We also prove that intention to reduce BWC is positively related to consumption of non-bottled water. The results may serve to guide decision makers seeking to promote ecologically friendly behaviour.

Keywords

• environmental concern
• single-use bottled water
• consumer behaviour
• theory of planned behaviour
• sustainable consumption