Exploring the impact of goals and motivation on young consumers’ sustainable plastic management behavior using the Theory of Reasoned Goal Pursuit

Abstract

Despite literature suggesting the importance of goals and motivation in pro-environmental behavior, its implication for predicting consumers’ sustainable plastic management behavior (SPMB) is limited. This paper adopted the Theory of Reasoned Goal Pursuit (TRGP) to predict young consumers’ SPMB, which includes plastic consumption reduction and proper disposal of plastic waste. Data was collected by surveying 336 respondents from a developing country - Bangladesh. Partial least square-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze data. The result shows a significant impact of active procurement and approval goals on attitude and subjective norms, respectively, that lead to the formation of motivation. Furthermore, it was found that individuals’ motivation significantly impacts their intention, eventually leading to pro-environmental behavior (i.e., SPMB). This research contributes by providing deeper insight into the underlying mechanism of how the active procurement goal (i.e., pro-environmental goals), active approval goal, and motivation interact with other factors to reshape individuals’ SPMB. In addition, this paper provides further evidence on the implication of TRGP in habitual type pro-environmental behavior context. Finally, this paper offers solid suggestions for practitioners to promote circular economy practices at the consumer level to fight against plastic pollution.