نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسندگان
1 گروه اقتصاد کشاورزی، دانشگاه علوم کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی ساری، ساری، ایران
2 گروه اقتصاد کشاورزی، دانشکده مهندسی کشاورزی، دانشگاه علوم کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی ساری، ساری، ایران
چکیده
کلیدواژهها
عنوان مقاله [English]
نویسندگان [English]
Introduction: The malleability, transparency, lightness, and cheapness of the plastic materials have led to their widespread use in the food packaging industry. However, the non-degradability of these materials in nature, along with their accumulation, has raised many concerns. According to the concerns about the environment, its impact on people's buying behavior has been investigated less in the country. Empirical findings do not conclusively confirm the relationship between buyers' awareness and their behavior. The aim of the study is to determine the factors affecting the level of concern of households about the use of sustainable packaging materials such as mineral water bottles.
Materials and methods: In general, variables such as the level of awareness and level of concern about environmental conditions are the qualitative variables that researchers survey them to behavioral methods. Therefore, the level of information about the consumption of sustainable packaging materials such as mineral water bottles was measured through questions. The level of concern variable was also measured through the willingness to pay more for the use of biodegradable bottles. Since both variables lack measurement units, the Ordinal Logit Model was used to estimate them in the analysis. The study data were collected through field surveys and questionnaires. The statistical sample of the study was 148 households consuming mineral water in Sari city.
Results and Discussion: In this study, people were divided into four groups based on their willingness to pay more: The first group is indifferent, not willing to pay any extra for biodegradable bottles; the second group was slightly concerned that they would replace it if biodegradable materials were available and there was no price discrimination. The third group is concerned, who are willing to pay up to 10 times more; and the fourth group is extremely concerned, who are willing to pay more to prevent environmental pollution. The study results showed that only about %22 of respondents were not concerned about the accumulation of water bottles and damage to the environment, and about one-third of them had good information about the problem of plastic pollution. Also, the results showed that the variables of household size, marital status, and level of awareness have a significant effect on the level of households concern in using biodegradable packaging materials. Married people were more likely to use biodegradable materials in packaging. The variable of education level did not have a significant effect on the level of households concern in using biodegradable packaging materials.
Conclusion: The study findings showed that the level of awareness of people about the long-term consequences of plastic accumulation in the environment was low (about one third) and there is a need for more information about the future of pollution, personal and social health risks, and especially the increase in health and food supply costs among society. Also, the probability of the impact of the information variable on the level of environmental concern was about 90%. The result shows that the content of information about the environmental consequences of plastic consumption, which is published in various ways, is not very encouraging and deterrent. Therefore, it is suggested to increase the level of concern and society about the consequences of using plastic materials by highlighting the content of anti-plastic advertisements. Also, more training courses on the plastic pollution crisis should be provided in universities, schools and the community to increase people's awareness of the consequences of using plastic materials.
کلیدواژهها [English]
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