Purpose: The aim is to identify the impact of different uses of the 3Rs of sustainability approach on consumer behaviour and people’s values. Design/Methodology/Approach: Through Multi-method study, with Ethnography, analysing information of European countries and Brazil, showing different uses of the 3Rs hierarchy and its consequences, and with Quantitative research, data from Curitiba-Parana-Brazil and Urbino-Marche-Italy are collected, using sampling by convenience. Findings: People’s priority is on RECYCLING, they perform few activities of REDUCE, and lesser actions of RE-USE, which does not have strong impact on the consumer behaviour and people’s values. The focus nowadays is on reducing packaging and the use of lower levels of inputs, such as energy and water, and to reduce the carbon foot print, mainly using public and/or alternative transport. People are concerned about environment and sustainability. However it seems they are not conscious of how to really preserve the planet. They present a low level of activities related to major societal concepts on behalf of the environment. To do recycling is important, but it is not enough. It is necessary that people embrace broader values, especially the youngest to produce and maintain conditions to preserve the planet under a sustainability concept. Research Contribution: A theoretical contribution of this paper is to show that the hierarchy of 3R’s of sustainability has changed from Reduce-Reuse-Recycle sequence to Recycle-Reuse-Reduce and its new order do not cause such impact on consumer behaviour and in people’s values. Practical Implications: The managerial implications to companies are the need of developing new procedures to help reduce the consumption of water and energy, and also reduce the over packaging, or the perception of it, in short term. Public sectors should improve its efficiency, e.g. water company suppliers should charge for the actual consumption, not for a minimal level. Originality/Value of the paper: This paper analyses 3R’s and its impacts on consumer behaviour and in people’s value, through a combination of different methods such as Ethnography and quantitative research.
3Rs of sustainability and the impact on consumer behavior
MUSSO, FABIO
2017
Abstract
Purpose: The aim is to identify the impact of different uses of the 3Rs of sustainability approach on consumer behaviour and people’s values. Design/Methodology/Approach: Through Multi-method study, with Ethnography, analysing information of European countries and Brazil, showing different uses of the 3Rs hierarchy and its consequences, and with Quantitative research, data from Curitiba-Parana-Brazil and Urbino-Marche-Italy are collected, using sampling by convenience. Findings: People’s priority is on RECYCLING, they perform few activities of REDUCE, and lesser actions of RE-USE, which does not have strong impact on the consumer behaviour and people’s values. The focus nowadays is on reducing packaging and the use of lower levels of inputs, such as energy and water, and to reduce the carbon foot print, mainly using public and/or alternative transport. People are concerned about environment and sustainability. However it seems they are not conscious of how to really preserve the planet. They present a low level of activities related to major societal concepts on behalf of the environment. To do recycling is important, but it is not enough. It is necessary that people embrace broader values, especially the youngest to produce and maintain conditions to preserve the planet under a sustainability concept. Research Contribution: A theoretical contribution of this paper is to show that the hierarchy of 3R’s of sustainability has changed from Reduce-Reuse-Recycle sequence to Recycle-Reuse-Reduce and its new order do not cause such impact on consumer behaviour and in people’s values. Practical Implications: The managerial implications to companies are the need of developing new procedures to help reduce the consumption of water and energy, and also reduce the over packaging, or the perception of it, in short term. Public sectors should improve its efficiency, e.g. water company suppliers should charge for the actual consumption, not for a minimal level. Originality/Value of the paper: This paper analyses 3R’s and its impacts on consumer behaviour and in people’s value, through a combination of different methods such as Ethnography and quantitative research.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.